Defying Sutton's Law
by Instant Noodler
Summary: A medical love story. He was a top-notch cardiac surgeon running his own clinic for the wealthy. He was indifferent to the ones in need of charity. She was a highly trained ER surgeon with a dream of running her own free clinic. When their paths crossed? Here's the result: "Welcome to the 'Shikon no Tama' free community clinic, Doctor InuYasha will be with you in just a moment."
1. Prologue: In Three Years

Yes! A new version of my first fan-fiction "Defying Sutton's Law!" It's back! It's back! I know! The story is rewritten and newly updated! The first version was a bit too rushed; I think I'll take my time writing this one the second time around!

Think you know everything about the story because you've read it the first time? Yes, the story line would be similar but it's going to be better and (less rushed cough cough.)

This story is inspired by my favourite television series, "A Gifted Man." It's a spectacular show!

I'd like to thank (in no particular order because they are all equally amazing) SexyxAngelx09, TiffyTaffy0409, Warm-Amber92, sherry15, iL0vemanga, jinulover, TheRealInuyasha, xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx, rite4fun, ninjapuppies, and IlonaBliss for their continuous support in the first version of "Defying Sutton's Law"!

I think I'm going to have an eponymous law theme... I'm "nerding" it out as usual...

Here's the first law: Muphry's Law :) Yes, there will be grammatical and syntax errors through the story, just keep Muphry's Law in mind!

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Prologue: In Three Years<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey, how have you been?"<p>

He paused before finding a spot to stand on the damp grassy field. It had been drizzling the whole morning; the cuffs of his khaki pants were drenched in rainwater and mud and his black leather shoes were covered in bits of freshly cut grass.

He had been out here for a while now, walking between the rows and trekking through the flat plains.

He tightened his grip on the wooden handle of the black golf umbrella when he felt a cool and strong spring breeze invading the space around him. He clutched the simple bouquet of white orchids in his hands and let out a long sigh.

It was about time he paid her a visit. He had been meaning to visit her for a while now but he never seemed to have mustered enough strength or courage to see her. Perhaps now was a good time; he was at a crossroad in his life.

"I've been thinking..." he hesitated once more before continuing. "About us and what I did and what I didn't do."

InuYasha stared into the distance trying to formulate his thoughts coherently. He tried to focus but everything seemed so hazy with the rain dripping down. Perhaps it was a mistake; he shouldn't have come to visit her. It had been so long - why all of the sudden now? Why not when he had found out about the accident or after her service? Why did he suddenly have the urge to see her now? Of all of the chances and he had had, why was he standing before her at this very moment?

Did he need her guidance? Did he need her to help clear his conscious?

He was being foolish. How could she give him guidance? She was gone.

Maybe it was because when she was still around, he didn't feel the need to visit her resting place because he could still feel her presence. It was different now, she was gone... forever.

He contemplated for a while and surveyed the patch of damp sod under his feet; InuYasha crouched down and felt the damp grass under his palms. He cringed at the cool sensation of the rainwater but decided that he would take a seat there beside her.

"You know... I sort of miss you," he began. "I miss all of your nagging, prompting, and teasing."

InuYasha let out a small grin on his face; his golden orbs softened.

"These were your favorites," he smiled and placed the bunch of white orchids in front of the stone. "I didn't forget."

She would have been so happy to see the fresh cut flowers; she used to complain about his insensitivity and about how he never seemed to care about the trivial things she liked. Well, she was wrong - he did remember very lucidly what her favorite flowers were along with many of her likes and dislikes. He knew them, he has always had.

The gentle breeze picked up a strand of his long silvery lock; he pulled the collar of his black trench coat closer together and tucked his chin between his knees. He hasn't been this close to her for years; he laughed. Oh how the situation was somewhat so ironic.

InuYasha extended his hands to touch the smooth surface of the gray gravestone. He shivered as his hands made contact with the cold and hard stone. He traced his fingers down the _K_ of her name that was carved so intricately into the stone.

"You were right all this time - you knew me so well," his voice was gentle and soft. "I've been running away because I was afraid. But this time... this time I'm not going anywhere."

He stared at the photo of her on the stone - she was so lovely… so beautiful. He traced his hand down and touched the other carvings on the stone - 1974... 2011... A dedicated doctor and...

InuYasha shook his head; she was so stubborn - she never took his last name.

Time didn't seem to matter anymore; he was used to the slow passing of time. It seemed that all he had done lately was to wait, he was waiting for that moment to finally come. He closed his eyes leaned back for a moment and tossed his umbrella aside, feeling the gentle rain trickling down his visage and soaking into his coat.

It was so serene; he hadn't felt so peaceful in a while now. In fact, he wondered if he had ever felt this peaceful before.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

It was raining more heavily now. Maybe he should leave. InuYasha held the umbrella above his head once again.

_'If I leave now, when will be the next time I return?'_

_Buzz... Buzz... Buzz..._

He felt his pocket vibrate; hastily, he dug into the left pocket and took out his phone.

InuYasha gazed at the screen, Rin Takahashi.

"Rin," he greeted his sister-in-law casually.

There was a sense of urgency in her trembling voice, "InuYasha, you need to be here... there has been a... complication. She's left you with her medical consent, you need to make the decision for her."

* * *

><p>I flock to fan-fictions like ants to honey... final projects and final exams can't stop me from writing!<p> 


	2. Chapter 1: Following Rothbard's Law

A more exciting version of "The Nostalgic Encounter!" Hip-Hip-Hooray!

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><p><strong>Following Rothbard's Law<strong>

* * *

><p>Rothbard's Law: <em>"Everyone specializes in his own area of weakness."<em>

* * *

><p><em>Beep... Beep... Beep...<em>

"Sir, the heart rate is at 76 bpm. Blood pressure: systolic, 116 mmHg; diastolic, 67 mmHg. All vital signs are normal," the surgical staff informed him.

"Ready to proceed with coronary artery triple bypass surgery. I need to replace the aortic cannula; lets begin. I need the retractor," he announced to his team.

His voice was full of confidence and conceit. He did have a reason to be confident and conceited though. After all, he was the best. At age 16, he attended the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where his aptitude for cardiac surgeries shone during his residency and earned him an eminent reputation.

At age 33, InuYasha Takahashi was the most successful cardiologist in Asia and rivaled the very best cardiac surgeons in the world. By age 25, he was already more successful than any of his compeers. Upon his return to Japan five years ago he opened his own practice, "Takahashi Cardiac" in Tokyo.

The waitlist for Takahashi Cardiac for a consultation alone could take months if not years. Patients included the most affluential ranging from A-list celebrities to famous politicians. A simple consultation started from 6-digit yen and a surgery came with at least an 8-digit yen price tag.

InuYasha was a wanted man by everyone, everywhere. But then who wouldn't want him? He had a pair of godly hands that performed magic; he could return vitality to the deathly ill and revive the dead from the grave. Maybe the second part was _a bit_ exaggerated; but the point is that InuYasha was an absolutely spectacular surgeon. He was the man everyone wanted to trust their life with, if given the choice.

* * *

><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.<em>

"Patient's heart rate and blood pressure are dropping; the heart rate is at 41 bpm and blood pressure is 75 - 32. The patient has entered hypotension," the surgical staff was panic stricken.

"Depressor, now!" InuYasha commanded. "Dammit, he's bleeding internally."

The vital signs monitor was off the charts. The red lights in the surgery room flashed ceaselessly and brought havoc.

"Yes... Sir," replied the surgical assistant, scrambling for the much-needed instrument but failing to find the correct one. There were just too many similar instruments on the tray to identify.

"Heart rate, 29. Blood pressure: 61, 23. Sir, the patient's in shock; we're losing him!"

"I said, now!" InuYasha barked and reached for the depressor from the surgical tray himself. Unfortunately as the panic stricken staff was in disarray to find the depressor; he knocked down the tray onto the floor.

_Clash. Clank._

The surgery room was silent.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeep._

"Useless idiot! Someone hand me a depressor and retractors, now!" InuYasha commanded furiously, a wave of heat radiated from him.

"Here, Sir," a more experienced staff firmly placed the instruments into InuYasha's latex glove sheathed hand.

InuYasha composed himself and surveyed the hemorrhage by the aortic valve. Calmly, the cardiac surgeon with the flick of his wrist repaired the damage.

"Sir, the patient's vital signs are beginning to return to normal. Heart rate, 46... 56... 75 and blood pressure 40... 82... 119 - 35... 55... 78."

"Alright, the aortic annulae have been inserted; I'm closing him up," InuYasha announced. 54 stitches, clean edges straight across.

The tissue opened with the lancet would be virtually free of scars after healing. Perfect. He smirked. Only he could accomplish such a perfect stitch work.

"Take him to the ROR now, 3 doses of antibiotics. Start him on Lactated Ringer's solution via IV to correct acidosis," InuYasha instructed his surgical staff with very specific instructions.

The patient was transported to the post-surgery recovery observation room.

* * *

><p>As InuYasha began to remove his scrubs and mask while walking into the surgery room's atrium, the previously panic-stricken surgical staff approached him.<p>

"Takahashi-san, Sir, I apologize for what happened in the surgery room. It won't happen again. It has been such an honor working with you, I was just..."

The surgical assistant was instantly and ruthlessly cut off by InuYasha, "I'm sure it won't happen again because you're fired."

InuYasha didn't look back as he slipped his arms into the sleeves of his white coat, leaving his team in silent. They knew his temper well. Dr. Takahashi was a perfectionist and he did not tolerate errors, ever. He was never a pleasant man to work with or work for but his staff still respected him because he was, after all, the best cardiac surgeon.

* * *

><p>"Ah, InuYasha, the surgery went well?" an elderly woman approached him with a thick brown leather cover agenda in her hands.<p>

"Kaede, you know I have a 99.99% surgery success rate. It was just a simple triple bypass."

InuYasha was beyond irritated. After that little prelude in the surgery room with that incompetent staff his temper was wearing thin. He didn't need Kaede's unnecessary concern.

A thought was irking him - the board shouldn't hire any more staff members on his behalf, he should oversee the hiring process himself next time. Sesshomaru probably hired that dimwit for him.

He was exhausted from the strenuous 5-hour surgery. Although it was "just a simple triple bypass," it drained his stamina and he could feel it.

"Don't forget, InuYasha. Your next consultation appointment is in two hours at 5:30 pm. Tomorrow, you have a board meeting with your board executives at 9:30 am; then at 11:30 am, you have a Forbes interview for 'Most Influential Surgeons of the Year.' Your brother called three times, he said he has something urgent. I told him you'd reply to him after your surgery..." Kaede's voice trailed off as InuYasha turned briskly to face her.

"Just... I... I'm tired. Okay? Tell him I'll deal with him later and push the Forbes interview."

He was drained. Really, really drained. The last thing he needed in the world was to have his moronic half-brother on his arse and some silly magazine cutting into his lunch. He hated Kaede's constant nagging and reminders; she ran his life. However, he was grateful for his executive assistant and if the truth had to be told, he probably couldn't live without her. Kaede had arranged everything for him - from dinner dates to dry-cleaning.

"I can rearrange the interview but it doesn't mean you don't have to go through with it. Shareholders love it when Takahashi Cardiac's company value increases when you're rated number 1... and don't blame me when Sesshomaru kicks your arse at tomorrow's board meeting because you've been ignoring him all week," Kaede warned the aloof InuYasha.

InuYasha leaned against his office's doorframe, impatiently waiting for Kaede to finish.

"Oh, InuYasha, one more thing," Kaede added.

"What? Make it quick."

"It's my birthday today."

Kaede knew InuYasha had probably forgotten it was her birthday. Not probably but certainly. Heck, she knew he probably didn't give a damn. It didn't surprise her; InuYasha was a brilliant surgeon but he was a renounced untactful, self-absorbed, selfish, and heartless jerk. Nevertheless, Kaede awaited for at least a casual birthday wish from him.

"Drat, again?" InuYasha responded nonchalantly.

She cringed at his response; it certainly wasn't what Kaede was hoping to hear.

"Well, they tend to happen every year, Dr. Takahashi."

InuYasha slammed the door in elderly woman's face.

Kaede let out a long sigh; InuYasha was an untactful jerk as always.

* * *

><p>It has been a long day. Too long.<p>

_Ding._

InuYasha sighed of relief as he stepped out of the elevator that had just descended from his clinic on 54th floor to the underground garage. Yes, his practice was that prestigious. It was located on the top floor of the Mori tower in Roppongi Hills on Japan's most expensive real estate.

He tousled his long silver locks and reached for his keys in the right pocket of his Caraceni suit. Yes, the Caraceni hand tailored suit by Mario Caraceni in Milan. Giorgio Armani was just too underrated for him.

_Beep. Beep._

He unlocked his car and sat into the driver's seat of the glistening midnight silver vehicle. He found solace in his Audi R8 Spyder; it was his baby. InuYasha pressed his forehead against the cold leather steering wheel and closed his eyes for a moment. The dim light in the parking garage made him sleepy.

With a flick of his wrist the Spyder's engine purred.

* * *

><p>Minato, Tokyo was beautiful at night with the city's illuminating lights. The traffic tonight wasn't as bad as he had anticipated.<p>

InuYasha felt his stomach growl. Oh, that's right, he hasn't had a bite to eat since this early morning an hour before his first surgery. Today was hectic and somehow in the middle of the crazy day, he neglected his lunch.

He may be a gifted surgeon but he wasn't exactly the ideal chef in the kitchen. As a bachelor, he never had to cook; he frequented restaurants instead.

He was near Tenka Ramen Shop.

It was his favorite restaurant. He pulled over and parked in the narrow spot by the adjacent to the ramen shop.

_Yum._

* * *

><p>The Tenka Ramen Shop was a traditional Japanese noodle restaurant. The shop was ancient but it was very trendy, clean, and tidy. Newspaper and magazine accolades for the restaurant hung on the dark chocolate walls in clear frames. Since the shop had been established in 1769, it has been well-known for their delicious noodles. Although the taste was traditional, there was nothing traditional about the storefront or the layout of the restaurant.<p>

The store's sign was a mechanically automated pair of chopsticks picking up strands of noodles from a bowl just above the neat and flashing kanji writing, "Tenka Ramen Shop." The restaurant had traditional low tables and cushions in the back and high bar tables and red bar stools in the front.

"Sayuri, two bowls of tonkotsu ramen with my usual sauce," InuYasha gave a faint smile to the young girl in the red apron who was taking his order as he leaned on the counter of cash register. She knew exactly which sauce he was demanding because he frequented here so often.

InuYasha was a frequent customer here but that didn't stop the girl from getting distracted by his dashing good looks. Sayuri simpered and fixed her eyes on the paper as she jotted down his order. InuYasha ordered 2 bowls of tonkotsu ramen every single time but it was always for himself - the half-demon had a large appetite.

Sayuri looked up to sneak a few peeks at the handsome surgeon who was sitting on the bar stool by the register. He was amusing himself by reading the menu to pass the time.

His jawline was so lyrical... those golden eyes... Sayuri sighed; he was out of her league. She was 18 and turning 19 soon. How old was he? 23? Maybe 24? She absolutely had no idea. InuYasha looked so young. She had seen so many articles written about him in the newspaper and magazines about how phenomenal of a surgeon he was. The pictures that often accompanied the articles never did him justice.

"Order's up!" the chef called Sayuri into the kitchen to pack up the ramen.

"Takahashi-san," Sayuri tapped InuYasha's shoulder lightly and handed him the takeout bag. She has secretly put in four tamagoyaki egg omelets in the bag for his breakfast tomorrow.

"Thanks Sayuri, you have a good evening!" InuYasha gave her an unintentional wink. He liked that girl; she was congenial and reminded him of his sister-in-law, Rin.

* * *

><p>Tonkotsu ramen, it was his favorite. He was exhausted so he got the ramen to go.<p>

InuYasha stepped out of the noodle shop and unlocked his car; the November wind was chilly and made him shiver. He should really start wearing his wool coat; he made a mental note to himself.

He proceeded to grab the handle of his door, but he stopped. He was frozen.

It hit him, hard. That scent. Sandalwood. Could it be her? No... But...

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 15 Years ago. Johns Hopkins Anatomy Lab.<strong>

He sat in frenzy and unrest. His ears twitched in discomfort. Why was he so afraid? The 18-year-old boy gulped hard. InuYasha was nervous. Nervous was an understatement. He was actually terrified. He was going to dissect a cadaver for the first time. Perhaps this was his weakness? _No._ He was going to conquer his fears. This was his first step in becoming a successful surgeon. How ironic, he knew he would be doing this for a living in the near future.

He looked at the tag of the frozen corpse. _Toni Trinkets. 28. Cause of Death: Myocardial infarction._

Knowing the identity of the unfortunate man didn't really help.

InuYasha took a deep breath and adjusted his surgical mask with his wrist. He had never done this before. Well, not everyone had the honor to cut up a dead body and learn about the human anatomy through cadaver dissection.

_Where should he start?_ He vaguely remembered that the professor had mentioned to start with the scalpels and make a 10-inch incision at the sternum. _Dammit_, he actually read the lab guidelines last night too, _thoroughly,_ twice. He felt the rush of adrenaline running through him.

"Staring without me?"

InuYasha heard a mellifluous voice and whipped his head sideways to take a look at the source.

She was gorgeous.

Her dark glossy hair was neatly braided into a French braid and she had the cutest dimples when she smiled at him. She wore a lavender colored scrub and had a stack of worksheets and manuals in her arms.

"You forgot to pick this up," she handed the package to him. He could smell her gentle sandalwood scent lingering on the paper through his surgical mask.

Wow, she was so thoughtful.

"Thanks..." he hesitated for a bit and took the package with his two hands. He made an extra effort to accept it with two hands as a sign of respect. Her presence seemed to have suddenly melted his anxiety away.

"I'm your cadaver buddy, Kikyo Sato."

"You probably already know me then, I'm InuYasha Takahashi."

How stereotypical, he was beginning to fall for his cadaver buddy already.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

He looked up and swiftly turned to her direction.

His stomach churned.

His eyes widened.

His heart pounded faster.

He was conscious of his breathing.

It's been five years, five long years since he had last seen her. It couldn't be. Why... why was she here? He thought that...

"Ki... Kik... Kikyo?" InuYasha was stunned. Speechless.

She suddenly stopped and turned upon hearing her name called by such a familiar voice. Her long hair danced in the wind; she gently grabbed the collar of her gray light jacket. It looked too thin to be worn on this cold November night.

Dazed golden eyes met nostalgic brown eyes.

She gently brushed away the stray hair from her face, revealing her soft and pale visage.

"Inu... Yasha?"

She was surprised to see him too. It has been five years since she had last seen him. They haven't contacted each other since the day he left... The day he left and ended their two-year marriage after their painful divorce.

"Hey," he broke the silence. "How have you been, Kikyo?"

Her features relaxed and her mouth curved up to give him an assuring gentle smile. Those dimples on her cheeks, his heart pounded.

"I've been well, it's so good to see you again, InuYasha."

He took a few steps forward to embrace her with his right arm while he carried the takeout bag in his left hand.

"I didn't expect to see you here; I didn't know you were back in Japan," InuYasha began. "I thought you were still in Ohtos."

"I finished my work there," she explained. "Now I'm running a free clinic in the danchi ghetto... in the Sanya Taitou-ku labour district. We provide free medical care for yokai and ningen who can't afford it."

He gave her a weak smile.

Of course, Kikyo being Kikyo, that's something she would do - always helping the ones with less fortune and who were the least fortunate. In that aspect, they were polar opposites. He aspired to fortune as a cardiac surgeon and she who specialized in family medicine wanted to volunteer herself to make the world a better place.

That was the basis for their divorce five years ago.

Upon graduating med school together, they got married. Upon their marriage, he followed her through Doctors Beyond Boarders to the little mountainous landlocked kingdom of Ohtos - the little country in the southern continent that was plagued by the viral epidemics.

After spending two years in the wretched condition in the country, he couldn't take it anymore. The country severely lacked resources. They could only afford to sterilize the needles after each patient before reusing them again. When he finished top of his class and graduated from med school, working in a destitute clinic miles away from modern civilization wasn't in his vision.

So he had left.

He had left her, but he had not stopped thinking of her since for the past five years.

He hated to admit it but he missed her very, very much. In every way possible, he felt guilty about his actions.

"Do you want to join me for dinner? I have tonkotsu ramen. I just live over there, in the Azabu area." He gave her a weak smile while placing his hand on her arm gingerly.

She hesitated for a moment but succumbed to his sincerity, "That would be great."

* * *

><p>Not only InuYasha was rich by profession as a cardiac surgeon but he was also made wealthy through inheritances. After his mother passed away when he was very young, he had inherited her fortune. Later on his 18th birthday, he had inherited the trust fund his father, the Great Inu no Taisho, had left him.<p>

InuYasha lived in style. In one of the most expensive city in the world and real estate have Tokyo, he owned a penthouse in the sought after Azabu area in Minato.

"Take a seat," he gestured as he placed the ramen on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Make yourself comfortable."

InuYasha handed Kikyo a glass of wine.

"Thanks," she smiled.

* * *

><p>"So you're running a charity clinic in the danchi now?" InuYasha began the conversation.<p>

"I see you've opened your own practice like you said you would back in Johns Hopkins," she smiled. "Yes. Shikon no Tama. The clinic's name is 'Shikon no Tama.' It's a very hope inspiring name, isn't it?"

He returned her a weak smile and nodded. She was four years his senior. At 37, she hasn't shown her age.

She was still beautiful.

She still had a youthful glow.

She still made his heart tremble.

After all these years, she could still read him like a book, "What's wrong, InuYasha, stop giving me that pitying look."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are," she raised her voice.

"Why do you... still do that?" InuYasha dwelled for a moment. "You're still working for free. Dammit, you're a Johns Hopkins grad for heaven's sake."

"You still don't understand, do you? It makes me happy... being able to help those who are less fortunate," she shook her head.

He stared at her bare ring finger on her left hand, "You're still... single?"

To avoid directly answering his question, she chucked, "It takes a while to mend a broken heart."

Guilt pierced through him and he cringed.

He did leave her. But back then at 28 years old, he envisioned greater things for himself than working in a poverty stricken village where they worked without sleep, food, clean water, proper equipment, or proper shelter 365 days a year. One day he just couldn't take it anymore.

He didn't know how to make amends to her.

"Kikyo, I..."

He was about to say something before she cut him off.

"InuYasha, it's getting late, I have to go." Kikyo got up and found her way to his door.

"At let me drive you back it's cold outsi -"

"I can go by myself," she interrupted him and gestured for him to stop with a stern look.

He watched as she kept her balance by pressing against the wall and slipped into her stiletto heels. After all these years and being through so much, Kikyo still loved to wear high heels. InuYasha laughed; at least some thing hadn't changed.

"Kikyo," he whispered her name softly.

She looked up and gazed into his amber eyes, "Yes, InuYasha?"

He paused for a second and continued, "You look great."

"You too, InuYasha. Take care."

Just like that, she walked out of his life once again. Was it the last time? He couldn't be sure. He was different now, he's a different man; he has changed. But then, she wasn't the same woman he had loved, married and divorced.

* * *

><p>It was late in the afternoon and he had just finished his engagements for the day. He couldn't concentrate all day - he thought about Kikyo. He couldn't stop thinking of her. He had buried his feelings for her for so long, but seeing her last night made old memories rupture uncontrollably to the surface.<p>

Her voice played in his mind like a broken record.

_Again. Again._

Again and again.

He wanted to see her; he needed to see her again.

He didn't know anything else about Kikyo's present life other than her current work at the walk-in clinic in Sanya. They ate in mostly silence last night. Now to think about it, she had only held the glass of wine in her hands and never touched the noodles.

She was back in Japan now; where was she working at? That's right... that clinic in Sanya. He entered _"Shikon no Tama, Sanya clinic"_ into the web search engine.

He took a glance at the number on the screen and entered it into his phone.

The dial tone dragged. _Beeep. Beeeep. Beeeeep._ He paced back and forth in his office unnervingly. What was wrong with him? He was just going to talk to his ex-wife. For heaven's sake, he has known her for 15 years!

"Shikon no Tama clinic, can I help you?"

He paused, it was a woman's voice but it wasn't Kikyo on the other side.

"Yes, may I speak to Doctor Sato Kikyo?" InuYasha began.

_Silence._

"May I ask who's calling?" The woman asked curiously in a very surprised tone.

"It's Doctor Takahashi InuYasha."

_Silence._

"From Takahashi Cardiac," he added; given the pause, he thought the woman on the line was probably silent because she wasn't familiar with his name and needed something else to stir her memory.

Keh, well, everyone knew Takahashi Cardiac. He was beginning to feel offended until the woman finally broke the silence and replied.

"Doctor Takahashi, may I ask why you're asking to speak to Doctor Sato?"

Did that woman need so many reasons? He simply wanted to hear Kikyo's voice.

"Well, I just saw her last night and..." he was cut off immediately.

"Doctor Takahashi? Eh... Doctor Sato Kikyo passed away a month ago."

"Par...don?" InuYasha cackled. "Is this some joke? I just saw her last night."

"Sir, that's not possible, she was in an accident a month ago and died."

A shiver went through InuYasha's spine. _This couldn't be... Kikyo... last night..._

"Doctor Takahashi? Sir?"

The woman sounded so sure, she wasn't merely joking around with him. His thoughts was hazy; he hung up the phone before the woman could finish. He was certain that he had seen her last night. He wasn't going crazy, _or was he?_

He glanced at his computer screen and typed, _"Doctor Sato Kikyo, Shikon no Tama."_

The first article on the webpage caught his eye; his fear had been confirmed.

_"Director of Shikon no Tama, Doctor Sato Kikyo was killed during a shooting on October 19."_

Today is November 20.

* * *

><p>There you go friends, same as "Defying Sutton's Law" but with elaborations, just for my old readers! You know how it's going to go from now on - it's all the same... <em>or is it?<em> Yes, I'm copy and pasting from the first draft but I also have a new keyboard that types more efficiently. Oh... I just love typing on it.


	3. Chapter 2: Fulfilling Littlewood's Law

**Warning**: Not suitable for those who are not fans of Kikyo. Yes, you have been warned. My feelings towards Kikyo are neutral; this IS an InuYasha and Kagome romance... nevertheless, you have been warned.

* * *

><p><strong>Fulfilling Littlewood's Law<strong>

* * *

><p>Littlewood's Law states <em>"individuals can expect miracles to happen to them, at the rate of about one per month."<em>

* * *

><p><em>Was it neurological? Was he schizophrenic? Was it psychosis? Severe magnesium deficiency?<em> It definitely wasn't delirium tremens from alcohol withdrawal. _Was it?_ He only had one or two glasses of wine from time to time.

_Could it be Parkinson's disease? Lewy body dementia?_

No.

He was a half-demon. His demon genetics made him immune to human genetic defects and diseases.

Maybe it was simple, he's just becoming... _insane._ That was a simple explanation and maybe the only explanation.

_Kikyo... Kikyo... Kikyo... dead?_

_No. No. No. No. No._ That's not possible. He had just seen her... yesterday. Less than 24 hours ago.

He was sure of it. He held her and felt her presence. He even coherently reviewed patient files and even called his friend Miroku after she had left his apartment last night. He even washed the dishes - the two sets of cutlery. She was there. With him.

Last night.

He was sure of it.

Yes.

In fact, the sandalwood scent still lingered in his living room.

He held a printout of the online article, _"Director of Shikon no Tama, Doctor Sato Kikyo was killed during a shooting on October 19."_

_"During a bank robbery on Kwakasaki at the Imperial Bank, Doctor Sato was attempting to aid a woman who was induced into premature labour. The robber fired six times and Doctor Sato was declared dead at the scene. The robber was unable to be identified. Witnesses reported the gunman as in his late forties, 6 feet, lean and had a raspy voice. He had taken 80,000,000 yen before fleeing the crime scene... Police reports suggest..."_

InuYasha crumpled the paper and tossed it into the bin below his desk. He rubbed his face with his two hands, stood up from his leather executive chair, and gravitated towards the floor length window of his private office.

The tension in his body eased as he felt the warmth of the sun's rays on his cheeks.

InuYasha gazed at Tokyo below his feet. He should feel maybe... sad? He was confused as to why he didn't. Maybe it was because a part of him still refused to believe that Kikyo had really passed away.

"Kikyo..." he whispered to himself, unable to process the plethora of emotions.

"She's dead. Dead. Deceased... No. No she's not. I just saw her last night."

But the article... the shooting... _it had happened._

It shouldn't have bothered him that much. They were divorced. Apparently she had been working at Shikon no Tama for almost a year. All this time she had been in Tokyo. He was sure she had heard a lot about him. Who didn't know of the great cardiac surgeon, InuYasha Takahashi? She probably knew where to find him too. Takahashi Cardiac at Mori Tower in the exclusive Ropponi Hills. She probably just didn't want to.

He probably deserved her cold shoulder. After all, he did just walk out of her life.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 5 Years ago. Baeleh Village, Ohtos.<strong>

"InuYasha, we need to save her!" Kikyo cried, pumping the rib cage of the petite girl who laid lifeless on the dirt floor. Again, again, again, again, again, again...

"Kikyo, Kikyo, she's gone... stop... Stop! There's nothing you can do," InuYasha reached for Kikyo, grabbing her from behind while she still attempted to perform CPR on the lifeless body.

Kikyo's eyes were filled with tears, her white and gray plaid shirt drenched in fresh blood. There was so much blood that the stains were black. She shook her head, over and over again. She clenched the sleeve of the dead girl in her hands, "She was so full of promise, InuYasha. She's just 13! It's my fault; I couldn't save her. InuYasha, I..."

He pulled her into a tight embrace, "I know, I know. Anya is already gone. You can't bring her back to life. It wasn't anyone's fault."

Deaths occurred on a regular basis. They were in a poverty stricken country and civil wars were erupting. There were landmines everywhere. The young girl Anya was an unfortunate victim, the only one of many unfortunate victims of landmines.

He was used to the atrocity, the deaths that occurred ever so often. He was desensitized, but she was not. She was still not accustomed to the horror.

Kikyo broke away from him, "She was the only one left of her whole village. Her mother, father, and brothers were all murdered. How could you say it's all right? It was all of my fault!"

She was in denial, again. Yes, he did love her; at least he thought he did. But as much as he loved her, he was beginning to lose it. He was losing his sanity and temper.

"I said, Kikyo, it's not your fault. She was losing too much blood from the explosion," he reassured her once more.

"No, no, no. Don't you dare tell me that! I couldn't save her!" Kikyo brawled, clenching on to herself. She was in an awful shape. She hadn't slept for days. Her face was smeared with blood and soil. She probably wasn't in the right state of mind either.

He was with her all that time. He was weary, weathered, and woeful. He had performed more emergency surgeries in the last two weeks than in the entire duration of his residency.

Something snapped in him.

"Fine. Deal with this yourself," he stood up.

"What? InuYasha..." Kikyo looked up to InuYasha, her voice trembling.

"I can't be here anymore. This is our 736th day here. This is not what I had envisioned for myself. You're either coming home with me to Japan or staying here by yourself."

"I'm staying," Kikyo looked down at the lifeless girl's body, avoiding InuYasha's glance. "InuYasha, I'm staying. _Here._"

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

Now he knew better than to leave her like that, but his 28 year old self did not. Now it was too late, she was gone. Over the years, their fierce and passionate romance died but he still cared for her. Deeply. However, he wasn't sure if it was romance or friendship.

Nothing explained the supernatural event that had occurred last night. A month ago yesterday, Kikyo had died. He was a man of science. He didn't believe in ghosts and spirits.

Hell, even at age 3, he didn't believe in the tooth fairy or Santa Claus. Was he expected to believe that the ghost of his ex-wife was coming back from the netherworld to haunt him? No.

But last night seemed so real to him; he felt the goose bumps on his forearm.

InuYasha clutched his silvery hair in agony.

'What is wrong with me?' he wondered.

InuYasha walked toward his phone, pressing office 1, Reception.

"Kaede, I need you to book a CT Scan, MRI, and neuroimaging for... right now."

"InuYasha, what's the urgency? Who is this for?" Kaede was surprised by the tension in InuYasha's voice.

"For myself."

* * *

><p>"Well, Dr. Takahashi, your neuroimaging report looks fine. You're all clear," the red head neurologist smiled.<p>

"Are you absolutely sure, Ayame?" InuYasha raised his eyebrow, questioning the stunned Dr. Hayashi.

"Mister, are you questioning me in my specialty? For your information, I recall back in residency I ha-" Ayame was offended.

InuYasha was always a conceited moron who thought his ability in medicine surpassed all those of his compeers. However, no one surpassed Dr. Ayame Hayashi in neuroscience. Not even Takahashi. Although InuYasha hated to think that he wasn't the omniscient doctor, he respected Ayame's specialty. Afterall, she did whip his sorry arse in neuroscience back in Hopkins.

"So are there any scientific evidence to show why..." he hesitated. "... I'm experiencing unprecedented 'abnormalities'?"

He was careful in his word choice. He didn't want to tell anyone he was experiencing "hallucinations."

Rumors like that could hurt his pristine reputation. A top rated surgeon was having hallucinations? The press would have a field day. They would probably speculate he was succumbing to pressures by using drugs leading to hallucinations. "InuYasha Takahashi plagued by substance abuse." That would look great on the cover page.

"InuYasha? Dr. Takahashi? InuYasha Takahashi!" Ayame waved her hand impatiently in his face. "Everything in your scan looks perfect. Your beautiful brain is p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y normal. No tumors, no hemorrhages. Nothing malignant. It's all clear."

InuYasha snapped out of his worst scenario trance.

"I think... I'm just really exhausted these days..." InuYasha apologized to the impatient Dr. Hayashi.

"Well, take care of yourself alright?" Ayame sounded worried.

"Yeah, I will... thanks. I think I'll call it a day." InuYasha grabbed his thick wool coat, gave Ayame a nod and closed the door of Ayame's office.

Hallucinations. Hallucinations of Kikyo. His neuroimaging was clear. It must be sleep deprivation. It must have been.

Ayame Hayashi leaned back in her chair, tapping her fingers on her desk and replaying InuYasha's visit moments ago. There was something odd about him... something different... but somehow she couldn't put her finger on it.

* * *

><p>InuYasha fell onto the soft mattress of his king sized bed. Sleep. Sleep looked good. It was Friday night. He finally had a weekend off.<p>

"Long day?" A voice asked.

"Yeah... another one of... those days..." InuYasha nonchalantly replied as he began drifting to sleep.

Just a typical day in the life of a cardiac surgeon.

...

Wait.

_Who was that?_

He lived alone.

Suddenly, he pushed himself unwillingly up. He groaned and brushed his long locks away from his eyes.

...

"WHO. THE. HELL. ARE. YOU?" InuYasha flinched. Why was he asking? Why did he bother to even ask? He recognized her face - it was Kikyo.

"It's me, Kikyo." The woman started approaching him.

"Woah, woah, woah. Stay where you are. Kikyo is dead. Who are you?" InuYasha, for the first time in his life was startled. "How did you get in here?"

"... I... I just ended up here. I did die I guess," Kikyo continued and watched InuYasha curiously. "My, my InuYasha, you look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Speak for yourself! You're dead!" InuYasha clenched his fist firmer. "What the frick is happening here? Explain yourself!"

"I don't know, InuYasha. I don't know," Kikyo had a perplexed and dumbfounded look on her face. "I really don't know."

"You. Are. Dead. It's been a month." InuYasha began.

"A month? Has it been that long?" Kikyo laughed and approached InuYasha and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Wha...aaat? What the hell are you saying? Oh god. I am going crazy." InuYasha slapped himself in the face. "I'm having hallucinations. There's something wrong with me."

"I'm not a hallucination. I am, me," Kikyo looked at InuYasha, concerned. "I just... appear and disappear. I just remember leaning over to help a woman in labor when I was at the bank. Then I heard gunshots and felt a sharp pain. I felt so... sleepy... So I slept. That was the last time I felt anything."

"So, let me get this straight, you are saying you're a ghost?" InuYasha scratched his head. Oh goodness, he was going mad. He was talking to the ghost of his ex-wife. Great.

"I know, eh? A ghost... I don't like that word, makes me sound scary. I'd like to think of myself as a... spirit." Kikyo smiled light heartedly at InuYasha and motioned towards him.

"DON'T... do... not... come any closer," InuYasha was still not at ease. He extended his claws, ready to lunge."

"It's me, InuYasha, really."

He relaxed, just a bit.

"So ... are you haunting me now?" InuYasha asked with some annoyance in his tone.

"I'm not haunting you. I don't really have a choice in where I show up, or when... or why. I don't even know what I do when I'm not with you," Kikyo looked at him with a pair of saddened eyes.

"Oh," was all he could say.

A sudden unbearable wave of sleepiness struck him; InuYasha's head hit the soft pillow and he drifted into a deep slumber. He let his memories of her drift.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 15 Years ago. The George Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University.<strong>

He watched her charily across the room with his organic chemistry textbook opened to a random page in front of him. He wasn't paying any attention to the contents of the book; she had all of his attention. It was a Thursday near closing time. He had been sitting in the library all day, stalking her.

The Peabody Library was impressive; it was one of the most beautiful libraries in North America. InuYasha looked up to the skylight of the library, it was already dark outside. The stars' light shone through the skylight of the ceiling and illuminated the white marble floor tiles.

InuYasha yawned out of boredom; Kikyo had been sitting there since the library opened at 9 am. Her eyes were glued onto the research papers in her hands.

He looked six stories up again, marveling the beautiful Corinthian orders of the pilaster. InuYasha stretched and surveyed the mahogany desk across the room once again. To his surprise, the woman who was previously occupying the space has now disappeared.

Where did Kikyo go? Oh no! Did she leave while he was gazing at the library's architecture? Stupid InuYasha... Stupid...

"Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy? Isn't that a little bit elementary for you?" Kikyo teased him while hovering over his shoulders to catch a glimpse of what he was reading.

InuYasha leaned back to see his cadaver buddy behind him. He smirked and took the thick booklet from her hands.

"The effectiveness of thiosemicarbazone in the treatment of tuberculosis? Isn't that a third-line drug? It's the only anti-TB drug that is ineffective when administered intermittently to patients," InuYasha glanced up to Kikyo once again.

InuYasha cracked a smile. Wow, Kikyo was reading his favorite doctorate research paper, so he wasn't the only nerd around here.

Kikyo's eyebrows perked up, how did InuYasha know? He got her attention now, in more ways than one.

"I read that research in my first year," InuYasha grinned once again at Kikyo.

Kikyo shivered upon hearing his words, how impressive. InuYasha was handsome and competent. There were very few people Kikyo was impressed by; InuYasha was undoubtedly one of them.

This was the perfect opportunity; he's caught her interest. He should probably ask her to dinner so he could get to know her better outside of the lab instead of bonding over a cold corpse.

"Are you hungry?"

His question caught her off guard. Her stomach growled and she blushed.

InuYasha grinned. Kikyo was so adorable when she was embarrassed.

"Hey, go get your stuff and let's go," InuYasha instructed her.

Kikyo nodded and walked over to grab her things. InuYasha surveyed her as Kikyo walked over to her desk. She was wearing a pair of short shorts with a long-sleeved Hopkins Blue Jays Archery cotton sweater. Those long legs... InuYasha felt his face grow warm. Well, it wasn't his fault. He was a hormone driven 18-year-old boy and Kikyo just happened to be very sexy.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

He had a peaceful sleep last night; InuYasha woke up this morning without being wakened up by the alarm clock for the first time in a long while.

He wasn't certain about anything. He had probably dreamt about his encounter with Kikyo. Everything was going to be all right.

Kikyo... he recalled his dream from last night. With that thought, he stepped into his glass shower and turned on the shower tap.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. A continuation of InuYasha's previous dream.<strong>

"No way!" she punched his shoulder jokingly.

"Yeah! Yes way!" he started tickling her.

"Not fair, InuYasha!" Kikyo flinched uncomfortably with a goofy smile on her face while trying to grasp InuYasha's hands. They had been sitting on the patio of the restaurant for the last three hours. They had really good chemistry; they never ran out of things to talk about.

InuYasha was just telling Kikyo about how his half-brother Sesshomaru dreaded chocolate. He had also just learned that Kikyo was on the varsity archery team, her hometown was Fujisawa, Japan, her parents passed away when she was 3, and she grew up in an orphanage until she received a full scholarship to study at Western University in Canada for her undergraduate degree.

"I'm going to get you!" Kikyo attempted to grab InuYasha's hands once again.

Instead, he grabbed hers and they both went silent.

"Inu... Yasha?" Kikyo looked shyly into InuYasha's mesmerizing golden eyes.

He didn't know where his courage came from, "Kikyo, I really like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

For a moment, his silvery ears flopped in dejection as Kikyo stared blankly at him for a moment. What was he thinking? He needed a miracle to get a girl like Kikyo.

Maybe _the_ miracle came; she reached out to his face and brought her lips to his.

"Of course."

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

10:00 am. Saturday.

He was sitting on the barstool in his kitchen, only a light towel draping over his hips, drips of water running down his divine abs.

He sat his bone china cup onto the shiny Italian marble countertop and picked up the morning newspaper.

On the right corner of the 13th page, he saw it, "Memorial service for Dr. Sato Kikyo at the Shikon no Tama clinic today at 2:00 pm."

"Kikyo's memorial service..." InuYasha was definitely going to go and pay his respects.

* * *

><p>His mind drifted. He wondered, if he hadn't seen Kikyo, or rather had a hallucination of her, would he have known she had died?<p>

He couldn't answer his own question. How rare.

Walking into his closet, he took the suit out of the dry cleaning bag. He reached over onto the rack for a pair of cufflinks and hesitated before picking up a silver pair with initials "I.T."

I stared at the pair of cufflinks before clenching them tightly in his hands.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 8 Years ago. Waterfront Hotel. Boston, Massachusetts.<strong>

"Surprise!" the young 29-year-old woman giggled like a 12-year-old girl. "Here's something for the man who stole my heart."

She held a little robin egg blue box with silver ribbons in her two hands.

InuYasha was indeed surprised by the woman. He was just tucking his dress shirt into his suit pants until she jumped in front of the mirror.

He reached for the box but she quickly retracted her arms and held the box behind her back, "Come and get it." She had a playful and mischievous look in her eyes.

He was tall, towering over the 5'7" petite woman at 6'2". He spontaneously picked her up by the waist and sprung her across the hotel room.

"What's this, huh?"

"InuYasha, what are you doing? I need to dry my hair!" She laughed as she grabbed onto his shoulders with both of her hands, dropping the box onto the bed.

He accidentally kicked the bed frame and stumbled. He lost his balance and fell onto the bed, on top of the girl he held in his arms. He pressed his chest closer against hers.

He heard her heartbeat accelerating. He could feel it too.

Goodness, she was beautiful, like a deity. She was flawless in his eyes. His left hand brushed her cheeks and she gave him a heart-melting smile.

She gave him a gentle peck on the lips and nipped his bottom lip, teasing.

She pulled the towel closer to herself and blushed, "You're going to be late. The symposium is in just two hours."

He chuckled and propped himself up with his right arm and helped the girl sit up. She adjusted her towel, stood up, and picked up the red silk tie from the carpet first, "Here, let me help you, InuYasha."

"I got it, Kikyo," InuYasha smirked at the goddess in front of him.

Kikyo smiled and picked up the blue box from the bed. "A little something for my Dr. Takahashi. Congratulations on being the keynote speaker at the Harvard School of Public Health International Symposium."

"Oh?" InuYasha was surprised. They were in Boston this week to attend the Harvard symposium. They had invited him to present his latest groundbreaking procedure in coronary artery bypass surgeries.

He glanced at the two Tiffany cufflinks in the box. Initials I.T. InuYasha Takahashi.

"I absolutely love it," he beamed. It was perfect. He absolutely loved it. His Kikyo was a woman with exquisite taste.

"Think of it as a... um... engagement and congratulatory present from me," she gave him a bright grin.

"Thank you, Doctor Sato, soon to be Mrs. Takahashi," he grabbed her waist and the towel that loosely hung over her bare figure fell onto the ground.

* * *

><p>See? Still similar to the previous version :D<p>

Again, I do apologize if Kikyo's not your favourite character. But InuYasha was 18! Now he's like... 33. Men change! They do!


	4. Chapter 3: Bound to Hick's Law

Third chapter! I hope you guys like the new change of characters!

* * *

><p><strong>Bound to Hick's Law<strong>

* * *

><p>Hick's Law: "<em>In psychology, the time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices he or she has."<em>

* * *

><p>He hated this part of the town. Sanya, Taitou-ku wasn't exactly his usual hangout spot. It was the danchi, or a place that was also known as the slum. The place's name was already self-explanatory. InuYasha regretted driving his Spyder to such an impoverished area of the city. He wished he had taken the subway instead.<p>

Drat.

Who would know which window he would be missing after the service? Maybe he was too harsh in his speculations.

He spotted the clinic. "Shikon no Tama." The sign was weathered; the "no" was already fading from the sign. Hey, at least this place had a roof; it was better than their "clinic" in Ohtos where he and Kikyo had worked in. It was undoubtedly nowhere near his standards though.

1:49 pm, he glanced at his Hublot as he walked into the clinic. The clinic's reception area was already full. Humans, young and old; different yokai all sat and paid respects to their favorite doctor.

InuYasha's dog-ears perked up, picking up the conversations that were happening in the room...

_"My son could have died if it wasn't for Dr. Sato... she was such a kind woman with a loving heart."_

_"I owe my life to Dr. Sato."_

_"Dr. Sato even made house calls," smiled an elderly woman who looked to be in her late eighties._

InuYasha surveyed the premises. The waiting room of the clinic was tiny and packed with a lot of visitors. The floor tiles were worn out from the heavy daily traffic of patients. The light green wallpaper was outdated. The clinic was in very bad shape... and the clinic's equipment? The monitor screen was probably from when personal computers were first introduced into the market: the once white plastic case of the screen was yellow with age. He could predict that the medical instruments were probably still unchanged for several decades as well.

The clinic was old. Actually, forget "old"; it was primeval. However, it was clean. His sensitive nose wrinkled at the overwhelming scent of antiseptic and disinfectants.

He spotted a large black and white framed photograph of Kikyo propped against the wall at the reception counter. She was smiling in the photo dressed in her white coat with her long hair loosely tucked behind her ears. Her natural beauty was so alluring, as always. Natural beauty. He smiled. He remembered this photo well because he was the one who had taken this picture of her years ago when they first entered residency and she had been using this picture ever since.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 10 Years ago. Kikyo's apartment.<strong>

"Smile! Just smile, Kikyo! Is that too much to ask of you?" InuYasha was frustrated. He had been attempting to get a perfect shot of Kikyo to put up during her residency at the hospital.

"Just a little," Kikyo frowned at him. She didn't like having photos taken of her. She felt awkward with so much makeup on and she also felt a little bit self-conscious.

"Brighten up, Kikyo!" InuYasha tried to prompt her but she didn't smile. "Alright, I'm going to do something about it."

With that remark the frustrated half-demon disappeared into Kikyo's bathroom.

* * *

><p>Dammit, why did women have so many products? InuYasha lifted up a bottle of pink liquid that looked promising and looked at the label: Make-Up Removing Solution.<p>

_Bingo._

He grabbed a pack of cotton pads from the drawer to go with the solution.

"Here, remove the makeup," he handed her the bottle and the pack of cotton pads.

"What?" she looked at him, bewildered.

"You look better without it," InuYasha gleamed.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

Just as InuYasha was lost in thoughts and old memories, he felt a tap on his left shoulder.

"So, how did you know Doctor Sato?"

He turned around to the source of the deep voice.

"Naraku, Kobayashi. I'm the chairman of the public health services," he extended his hand. "Lovely woman, wasn't she?"

"Yes... yes she was," he said almost in a whisper. "We... Kikyo was my ex-wife."

The middle aged Naraku raised an eyebrow, "Takahashi is it?"

"Oh? Pleasure to meet you, yes, InuYasha Takahashi," InuYasha extended his greetings to Kobayashi. "And you are?"

"I'm Kikyo's boyfriend," Naraku responded.

InuYasha paused, unsure how to make of it. _Boyfriend._ Oh. So she had moved on. Ha, a beauty like her didn't stay single for a very long time.

He surveyed the man. Naraku Kobayashi, eh? Naraku was give or take two or three inches shorter than he was. He had deep crimson eyes. Broad shoulders... so this was Kikyo's type now? A shape shifting half-demon? Pathetic.

InuYasha felt... enraged? Perplexed? Well, they were legally divorced. It wasn't like he didn't have a girlfriend or two in the past five years so why shouldn't Kikyo have a boyfriend? But he was somewhat jealous of Naraku.

Stupid shape shifting half-demon. InuYasha had taken an instantaneously dislike to him.

Strange, wasn't it?

He just couldn't imagine Kikyo with anyone else.

"I really did love her," Naraku continued. "I was going to propose to her until it happened."

"Oh..." InuYasha didn't know how to respond. He was the ex-husband, listening to his dead ex-wife's current boyfriend telling him about how he was about to propose to her before she died in a bank robbery. How awkward.

What was he supposed to say? "Congratulations, you were going to marry my ex-wife? Congratulations, I hope you two have a long and happy marriage and hopefully it lasts longer than her previous one! Good for you?"

Could he give Naraku advice? Kikyo and InuYasha met as cadaver dissection partners in second year of med school. Plus, Naraku probably didn't need advice now because she was dead.

InuYasha gave him a nod and was about to turn away until Naraku called him again, "InuYasha, hey listen..."

InuYasha was a bit irritated by his attitude, "Yes, Kobayashi?"

"I know you're very well networked in the medical circles, I was wondering if you could do me a favour. If not, do it for Kikyo?" Naraku caught InuYasha's attention.

"Only for Kikyo," InuYasha signed. He would do anything for Kikyo.

The stupid half-demon was playing the "do it for Kikyo" card. That was a warning sign that Naraku was going to ask something that was too much of him. That bastard. The dirty shape shifter knew that if he pulled that card on InuYasha, he wouldn't refuse anything. He, InuYasha Takahashi, didn't do people favors... except for the selective few of course.

"Kikyo was a phenomenal director. After she left, there isn't anyone who could take her place. It's been a month. I can't find a replacement. The clinic has been a disaster," Naraku begged. "I was wondering if you can help me in finding a new director for Shikon."

That was too much to ask from InuYasha, "No."

Anything for Kikyo? Screw that, Naraku can solve his own problems. Looking for a director for the clinic was too much to ask. Who would work here in this hellhole anyways?

"But Kikyo will not rest in peace until she knows the clinic is in good hands," Naraku continued.

Wait. Kikyo would not rest in peace...

Was that why Kikyo appeared? To haunt him? So that he could help her settle her affairs? Was there somehow, a supernatural connection that enabled people after they die to latch onto this world because there was something they just couldn't let go of?

Ridiculous wasn't it? He didn't believe in ghosts or spirits or anything... but anything to stop Kikyo from intruding his life. He needed to eliminate any possibilities; he was desperate. Maybe if he settled this affair for Kikyo, he wouldn't see her "ghost" anymore. Better yet, he could ease the subconscious he never thought he had and maybe then he would stop hallucinating.

"Fine," InuYasha replied grudgingly. "Give me some time."

* * *

><p>Kagome Higurashi woke up this morning feeling like she could take on the world. Today was the big day; she was having her interview for director of the Shikon no Tama with InuYasha Takahashi.<p>

A week ago, she had heard her mentor mention about a position for the director of Shikon no Tama and she applied. Doctor Takahashi InuYasha was the one responsible for hiring. He sounded quite agreeable on the phone on Tuesday when she called him to set up an interview.

Kagome pondered for a moment. Why would InuYasha Takahashi do the hiring for Shikon on Tama? What was his connection to the free clinic in Sanya? Maybe he'll tell her? Kagome was just curious; she wasn't desperate to know.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and smiled - she was dressed for success. Kagome cupped her chin in her palm and turned her attention to the pot of yellow orchids on her vanity for a moment. _He_ had sent them to her just yesterday and the flowers were already whithering. Kagome frowned for a moment and contemplated what she should do with the flowers and suddenly realized she needed to get to Takahashi Cardiac.

* * *

><p>"InuYasha, there's a Dr. Higurashi Kagome here for you," Kaede informed InuYasha through the office phone.<p>

"She's early. Just keep her company, Kaede. I'm finishing a consultation right now." InuYasha instructed Kaede and hung up the phone.

"Dr. Takahashi will meet you in just a minute, Dr. Higurashi," Kaede smiled at the young doctor. "Have a seat dear, would you like something to drink?"

"Earl gray would be nice, thank you Sasaki-san," Kagome replied with a sweet smile. "Call me Kagome."

Wow, she was going to be meeting the one and only Doctor Takahashi InuYasha. This was incredible.

The young woman surveyed Takahashi Cardiac. Wow. A clinic on the 54th floor of the Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills. Impressive.

Takahashi Cardiac looked like something out of a science fiction.

Every electronic device was state-of-the-art touch screen. The doorframes were all stainless steel with motion sensors on the frames. The windows were made from transitional glass; the silver nitrate tinted the windows accordingly to the strength of the sun's ultraviolet radiation throughout the day.

She had also read in the Nippon Medical Review that the entire clinic had an advanced internal climate control air filtration system that completely sterilized the circulated air. There hasn't been a single post surgery infection since the clinic had opened five years ago. Incredible.

The reception area was large, filled with exclusively designed Italian furniture. How exclusive. One of the walls was a panel of floor length window. You could see Tokyo below your feet.

Kagome looked around the waiting room; the flooring was walnut hardwood.

Damn, this place was even better than her apartment with all the high tech gears and exquisite furnishings.

She realized that she had five minutes until her scheduled interview and felt the butterflies in her stomach. Her surroundings made her feel uneasy.

"Kagome dear, here is your tea."

"Thank you, Sasaki-san," Kagome nodded as Kaede placed the porcelain cup in her hands.

She took a sip. The tea was delicious.

* * *

><p>Her heart was racing. Any minute now.<p>

"Doctor Higurashi?" She looked up to see a gorgeous man in front of her. Ruffled silver hair, honey golden eyes, and a perfect jawline. He was lean and trim. He was in a pristine white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. On his white coat there was the embroidery, "Dr. Takahashi InuYasha, Cardiac Surgeon."

She blushed. Pictures from the magazines did not do this handsome doctor justice.

Darn it. She felt underdressed for the interview. Maybe underdressed wasn't the correct word because he wasn't in anything overly spectacular either but she was intimidated by his presence.

She felt her heart beat quicken. If she knew she was going to meet Ares the Greek god of war in person today, she would have spent more time on her hair. She would have dabbed on a bit more lip-gloss and wore heels that were two inches higher.

Perhaps if she dressed up a bit more it would have made her feel more confident. But then again, there wasn't anything she should be unconfident about; her impressive curriculum vitae spoke for her.

InuYasha was surprised after she saw the beauty sitting in the waiting room. This was Dr. Higurashi Kagome? He was expecting some utterly unattractive woman at least in her late forties or fifties. From her résumé, he had presumed that someone who was as accomplished as she would have spent at least a decade or two developing and doing everything on that list.

She was so young. What was she? In her twenties or thirties? He recalled her résumé, "Stanford University, School of Medicine... doctorate... emergency medicine... graduated in 2002."

Hm... Stanford... She was educated in America like he was. Not bad.

Her impressive accomplishment wasn't what made him so surprised. She... she... she had silky shoulder length wavy dark chestnut hair, a flawless visage, beautiful plump lips, and gorgeous long legs that were complimented by a tight pencil skirt. Most of all, her eyes... oh her enigmatic brown eyes... they were so familiar. She reminded him of her. She resembled Kikyo. His Kikyo. Keh, the only reason she looked attractive to him was probably she resembled Kikyo but Kikyo was much prettier anyway.

Nevertheless, Kagome was very attractive and there was something special about her scent. She smelled like narcissus and freesia. That combination of floral tones... It was so familiar to him. Have they met somewhere before?

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback.<strong>

"Mommy said boys don't cry..."

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

He broke the silence, "Nice to meet you, Doctor Higurashi, I am InuYasha Takahashi."

"The pleasure is all mine, Doctor Takahashi. Please, just Kagome."

"Likewise, just call me InuYasha, please... Kagome. Follow me to my office."

* * *

><p>"Well, you definitely are impressive, Kagome," InuYasha browsed through Kagome's curriculum vitae. "Oh, I see here that you have worked with Doctors Beyond Boarders in several developing countries throughout the years."<p>

Kagome shifted her pose before continuing, her eyes fixed confidently to InuYasha's.

"Yes, InuYasha. Additionally, upon finishing my studies in emergency medicine, I worked as an ER doctor at the Alto Memorial Hospital in Massachusetts. I also worked with the state of California in America in health care administration. Upon returning to Japan two years ago, I directed a not for profit clinic in Osaka. I have seen and heard so much about Dr. Sato Kikyo's legacy. I would love to follow her footsteps. It was quite an tragic loss that she had passed away but I was quite excited when I heard about the opening for the position."

Kagome's eyes sparkled when she mentioned Kikyo.

InuYasha's eyebrow perked up at the sight of Kagome's enthusiasm.

"Well, a doctor like you could easily open her own practice or work at Tokyo Memorial, why would you want to work at the clinic in the slums?" InuYasha asked Kagome sternly.

"I want to help those who are less fortunate. I guess growing up in a shrine, I've seen many less fortunate families who came to pray for the health of loved ones. I can't explain it with few words... but... I've seen how some famil-" Kagome was cut off by InuYasha.

"I don't understand Doctor Higurashi. You could be making eight or nine times the money working somewhere else. Shikon no Tama runs on minimal government support. There's a lack of financial support: it's a free clinic! It's in financial ruins, the equipment is outdated, there's a lack of staff. It's in one of the worst neighborhoods! That place looks like it's going to collapse any minute! You'd be better off somewhere else!" InuYasha was blunt, maybe a little too blunt.

"With all of my respect, Doctor Takahashi, what are you trying to say?" Kagome was baffled. Was this how you would sell a position you were hiring for? Was he discouraging her from taking the job? Why? What an insolent jerk. Appearances are deceiving. She was repulsed by his conceit. What a jerk.

Most of all, she was very, very confused at the mixed messages InuYasha was giving her. As a matter of fact, he was giving her a whiplash. Why was he going through all of this trouble just to tell her how awful the clinic he had been hiring for was?

"I'm just warning you, and probably someone else might be more suitable for this job than you are." InuYasha leaned into his chair while gazing at Kagome.

What was he alluding to? Someone else more suitable? She decided to ask him the question that was beginning to irk her, but maybe that was what he was trying to tell her.

"Doctor Takahashi, you really don't want me for this position, do you?" Kagome was very upset. What was InuYasha pulling on her? He was giving her every reason in the world for why she shouldn't take this position. He was the one who told her that she could come to Takahashi Cardiac today for her interview.

Besides, she knew very well what she was getting herself into. She aspired to Kikyo's legacy. InuYasha... InuYasha was trying to discourage her. It sounded like... ... his voice rang through her head, "... someone else might be more suitable for this job than you are..."

"Doctor Takahashi, did you already have someone in mind? Is that why you're rejecting me?" Kagome felt insulted. "Then why did you agree to meet me for an interview?"

"I..." InuYasha hesitated. He thought it'd make the hiring process look more procedurally fair if he had several candidates interview for the position so he very agreeably booked his interview with Kagome.

His hesitation confirmed Kagome's speculation. That moron! She felt... humiliated, cheated, swindled... No one messed with her.

Kagome briskly got off the chair that was opposite of InuYasha's desk and quickly straightened her skirt. She picked up her handbag and collected her papers in front of her. She had never been thus treated in her life!

"Thank you for your time InuYasha, have a great day..." Kagome had a forceful smile on her face. InuYasha had just played her. He already had someone else in mind. He had gotten her hopes up. How cruel. She felt insulted but she was more disappointed. The young doctor pushed the mahogany door open and her heels clicked down the hall.

"Kagome, wait!"

"You've told me everything I needed to know, Doctor Takahashi!"

InuYasha quickly got up to follow her only to see the elevator close. Usually he would have had a faster reaction time, but for some reason he couldn't process what had just happened fast enough to act.

"It ended so soon, InuYasha," Kaede stated amusingly as she walked past him.

Yeah... it did. Kagome was a great candidate but she was right, he did have someone else in mind. He smirked and shook his head. What a temperamental woman. Whatever.

* * *

><p>"Bankotsu!" InuYasha was excited to see his old friend later that afternoon. It had been many years since he had last seen him. They used to be close friends during residency.<p>

"InuYasha, you haven't changed a bit!" Bankotsu was delighted. He received a phone call from InuYasha a week ago about the hiring for the position of director for a small clinic. As a result of administrative budget cuts, Banktosu, a doctor specializing in family medicine was out of employment. He of course, was more than eager to take the position when InuYasha made him the offer.

"You'll love the clinic!" InuYasha patted Bankotsu on the back. "Lets get going, I'm taking you to the clinic."

When they stepped out of the Mori Tower, InuYasha stopped Bankotsu when he reached for his car keys, "We're going to take the subway instead. It's more... convenient. Trust me on this one."

* * *

><p>Dun. Dun. Dun. InuYasha is such a jerk. Grr. "WHAT HAPPENED TO KOGA?" He's serving a greater purpose!<p> 


	5. Chapter 4: True to the Hawthorne Effect

**True to the Hawthorne Effect**

* * *

><p>Hawthorne Effect: <em>"A form of reactivity whereby subjects improve an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they are being studied."<em>

* * *

><p>"Bankotsu, look here, they have an excellent reception area."<p>

InuYasha tried his best to make the Shikon no Tama clinic sound and look as appealing as he possibly could. To his disappointment, the moment Bankotsu found out they were going to stop at Sanya, InuYasha knew that his old pal Bankotsu had changed his mind about taking the position at Shikon.

However, as a tactful man, Bankotsu decided to stay as InuYasha showed him around the clinic.

"I know this place looks a bit run down but it's got a lot of potential!" InuYasha tried so hard to sound cheerful it was painful.

He patted the wall and crumbs of the wall fell into his hands. Oops. He wasn't going to do anything like that again.

As the two doctors started their walk through the crammed clinic, InuYasha began to feel dejected. He wouldn't blame Bankotsu if he turned the job down. Hell, he wouldn't even want to work there himself. In fact, he felt embarrassed for bringing Bankotsu into the clinic.

"Here, Bankotsu, over here you get your very own medicine storage... place... Oh look at this, a trauma room!" InuYasha pushed Bankotsu through the clinic and led him to the back.

Who was he kidding with? "The medicine storage place?" It was a crammed makeshift janitor's closet with bins of disorganized bags of instruments and medications.

"So who's responsible for the accounting and finances of this place?" Bankotsu hesitantly asked.

"You," InuYasha responded.

"The purchasing and equipment inspections?"

"You."

"Patient relationships?"

"You."

"Sanitation and repairs of the clinic?"

"You, my man. You're in control around here," InuYasha patted Bankotsu on the back.

"InuYasha... stop, I don't want to see any more of this place."

Bankotsu gave InuYasha a stern look.

InuYasha tried to sell the clinic to Bankotsu with his last try.

"Yo man, look. You even get your own private office! Look, look. You can put your name right here on the door, 'Dr. Suzuki Bankotsu. Director.' Yeah? You like that?" What he was doing was pathetic and he knew it.

InuYasha was in a panic. He was always in control of the situation but this time, he wasn't. No one wanted to work in this pathetic clinic. Dammit. He shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place. Naraku, that bastard.

But it was for Kikyo... for Kikyo.

Of course.

Besides, if he found this place another director, Kikyo would stop appearing in his vision... hopefully. But seriously, he didn't know why he saw her in the first place. But... that wasn't important as of this moment.

Bankotsu shook his head, "I'm sorry InuYasha. I know I am desperate to find another job but... I am a specialist! I don't work in places... like this."

InuYasha was thankful Bankotsu was at least diplomatic about his opinions. If it was the other way around, he would have given Bankotsu a "are you fucking joking with me" talk and walk away with his middle finger in Bankotsu's face.

Asking Bankotsu to work here was insulting.

"I'm going to go back now, I'm sorry InuYasha. " Bankotsu left swiftly left after expressing his apologies to InuYasha.

* * *

><p>Just as InuYasha was about to leave the clinic as well, someone called his name from behind.<p>

"Doctor Takahashi?"

He turned around.

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Dr. Sango Miyake, I work here." The young woman had chased InuYasha down the hall.

"Of course you do, Dr. Miyake." InuYasha was aloof; he didn't want to linger around in the clinic anymore. He had an appointment with a patient back at Takahashi Cardiac in an hour.

"We need your help. Everything has been terrible wrong since Kikyo passed away... everything is in her computer. There is a password though. We really, really need to get an access. The IT support won't be here for another week. There are patient files and important administrative files that we urgently need..." Sango begged InuYasha. After all, he was her ex-husband. Perhaps he would know what passwords she used?

"How should I know?" InuYasha brushed her off. "I have my own practice to run. Have a good day, Doctor Miyake."

He left, just like that. Sango was shunned. Rumor had it that the great cardiac surgeon InuYasha Takahashi was a egotistical, selfish jerk. Well, the rumor had just been confirmed.

* * *

><p>"Stupid Kikyo... of all the things, she decided to run a clinic in the slum. Shikon no Tama... what a stupid name..." InuYasha mumbled as he took a slip of the brandy from the glass in his hand.<p>

He was enjoying a moment of peace and quiet in his private reading room until...

"I'm here, you know."

It was Kikyo's voice.

"Ahh... what? Kik.. Kikyo..." InuYasha almost dropped his glass. "You're here... again."

He put down his glass on the table. Was he drunk? Already? He had only taken two or three sips of the brandy; there was a good portion still left in the glass. He was sure he had drank more than what he had just consumed before without hallucinating about Kikyo.

"InuYasha, you have to help me. You need to go back and help them open the file at Shikon," Kikyo was pleading him with tears in her eyes.

"Not this again..." InuYasha rubbed his temple. He was going mad. "Damn the hallucinations."

"I swear, I'm here. I'm real... InuYasha, just listen. My password is the same as it has always been... remember?" Kikyo prompted InuYasha. She knew that he knew.

"Kikyo..." InuYasha's voice trailed.

"I know you don't believe in me. You think you're going insane. Trust me, I would feel the same too... but I beg you InuYasha, you have to help me. They can't do without the files on that computer, InuYasha. I need you."

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 13 Years ago. Dorm room of Johns Hopkins University.<strong>

"Create user name..." The young girl wondered sitting in the chair of her dorm room. Her fingers tapped the keyboard of the laptop lightly. She was pondering about what to type to register her online lab account.

"InuYasha, I need help with this." She sought after the help of her boyfriend.

"Help me think of a user name..."

"Just use your student account ID," he replied while laying on his stomach on his girlfriend's bed while flipping through a human anatomy textbook.

_'1satokyo32'_ This should work... Now for the password...

"Password, please enter something original that that can be easily remembered."

She glanced at her boyfriend and giggled.

"What?" InuYasha's eyebrow perked up. He was curious about InuYasha's sudden burst of laughter.

"Nothing... nothing..." She was blushing hard. "I just thought of an awesome password to use."

"Oh?" He sat up and wrapped his arm around her overlooking at the screen. "What is it?"

She typed,_ 'InuYashATak0408'_

"My favorite boy's name and the date of our anniversary, April 8th."

She gave him a sweet smile and his lips met hers.

"How original," he smirked and laughed at her conventional "originality."

* * *

><p>InuYasha didn't know what he was doing. It was a Sunday morning. He was dressed down into hoodie and sweats. Oh, that wasn't the anomaly. The problem was that on his only day off in the week, he was in front of the Shikon no Tama, as directed by the ghost, sprit, or whatever Kikyo was... of his dead ex-wife. Pathetic.<p>

Now or never... He pushed the door of the clinic and stepped in. There were so many patients waiting in the reception area. They didn't have enough seats so some patients had to lean on the wall and some sat on the floor.

He picked up a series of conversations from the back of the clinic with his sensitive ears:

"I need the patient file, now!"

"What do you mean you don't have it? I said now!"

"Midoriko, there's a patient in exam room 3! She needs to be seen immediately!"

"No, does it look like I'm free? For heaven's sake, must I do everything?"

"I'm going to carry the documents out!"

The young female doctor seemed disoriented. Sango carried a stack of files from one of the rooms in the clinic while rushing to the reception area, still mumbling and shouting to another doctor who was in one of the examine rooms. She caught sight of InuYasha.

"What a pleasant surprise, Dr. Takahashi..." Sango was perplexed, she thought the jerk of a cardiac surgeon wasn't going to return after what occurred on Friday. He had made it very clear that he didn't want to help them out.

She tucked the files in her arms into a cardboard box and watched InuYasha curiously.

"I... I got the password," InuYasha explained.

Sango grabbed a pile of mail from the mailbox at the reception desk and glanced at the envelopes before returning her attention to InuYasha.

"... Sure... the computer is just in her office," she stated as she followed InuYasha who made his way through the clinic.

* * *

><p>Kikyo's office was a mess. Mountains of paperwork piled beside the keyboard. Envelopes stamped with "overdue" were collected into a clear plastic garbage bag at the foot of the desk.<p>

Sango threw the pile of mail she had collected into the bag. InuYasha raised his eyebrow and before he could ask his question, Sango explained herself.

"Overdue bills and administrative paperwork, there are too many of them so we're collecting it into the bag... to be dealt later... hopefully."

InuYasha nodded. There had got to be at least ninety or more of unopened mail in the bag. That was a conservative estimate. InuYasha turned his attention toward the screen, stared at the blank box before his eyes, and began typing.

Password: _'InuYashATak0408.'_ Enter.

_'Password Verified.'_

Silence.

Just as he had predicted, it was correct. She was so predictable. He would have guessed it even without her "spirit's" prompting.

"Thank you, so, so, so much! Dr. Takahashi!" Sango was ecstatic. Finally, something was going to go well around here.

"InuYasha, just call me InuYasha, Dr. Miyake."

Sango smiled and offered her hand, "Sango, just Sango."

Maybe the jerk of a cardiac surgeon wasn't that bad after all.

They enjoyed a moment of peace before Dr. Ito called, "Sango, we need you in exam room 2!"

"Coming, Midoriko, be patient!" Sango was irritated. "Sorry InuYasha, things have been so hectic without Kikyo as our director. Nothing has been going right. Oh we really need a director or we might have to... close down."

InuYasha was a bit sympathetic. The reception was packed with sick patients and it didn't seem like the crowd was dying down anytime soon. More patients seemed to have entered the clinic. He had never seen a medical practice so... chaotic and in such turmoil.

Then, one of his biggest headaches hit him when Sango asked him, "InuYasha, have you found us a new director yet? Naraku said you have taken on the responsibility."

Damn that Naraku.

"I'm... working on it."

* * *

><p>He was just about to leave the clinic until a man who looked in his thirties came in dragging his bloody foot. The scent of blood was overwhelming; the man was losing a lot of blood.<p>

"Sango! We have another emergency around here! This little girl just collapsed!" Dr. Ito Modriko was having trouble controlling the situation in the clinic. There were only two doctors including her and there were 32 patients on the waiting list.

"I need to help that little girl, InuYasha, I need you to help this man here," Sango instructed InuYasha before running over to help Midoriko.

"Wait, Sango! Wa..."

Sango had left to help the other patient, leaving InuYasha to the man. He didn't work here, dammit. Spending his Sunday working at Shikon no Tama wasn't what he had in mind.

"Please doctor, help me... gah..." The man was drenched in sweat, shaking from the pain. As unwilling and heartless as InuYasha was, he was after all, a doctor. It was against his profession's moral code to leave a bleeding patient unattended. Sango was going to owe him one.

"Okay sir, lets get you to exam room number 2," InuYasha helped the man onto the examine table wrapping one arm around his shoulder while the patient's arm hung across his.

"1... 2... 3..." InuYasha gave him a lift.

"Ahhhhhhh!" The man was in agony.

After several minutes when he cleaned the wound, InuYasha started stitching Suikotsu's foot.

This man's name was Suikotsu, he had learned. He ran a non-profit soccer program for young teenagers in the area.

"I was playing soccer with the boys bare feet then I stepped into something and it caught my foot," Suikotsu was embarrassed as he explained how he got his bloody foot.

"Aren't you a little old to be running around bare feet?" InuYasha was amused.

"Yeah, I know, but it was more of a spur of the moment thing, you know?"

InuYasha shook his head. No, he didn't know.

"Okay big guy, take it easy, alright?" InuYasha wrapped his foot in bandages and left instructions for the nurse.

As he was walking out, he walked into Midoriko.

"Midoriko Ito, nice to meet you Dr. Takahashi," she extended her arms to him.

"InuYasha, nice to meet you Midoriko."

"Thanks for helping out."

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

><p>InuYasha continued to make his way out until Sango shouted his name, "InuYasha! We got another patient!"<p>

InuYasha groaned, "Sango! Nice try! I need to get back, I have somewhere to be."

No he didn't. He just didn't want to stay here any longer.

"Awww, come on InuYasha!"

"Bye, bye!" InuYasha waved as he walked out.

"Someone, help him!" A woman screamed out of terror.

InuYasha turned his back immediately. Suikotsu had just collapsed. He as now unconscious on the ground, seizing.

Dammit. He lost too much blood and was now in hypotension.

"Okay, everyone, keep calm. Give me some space." InuYasha's cool voice calmed the patients who were startled in the waiting room.

"Sango, give me 100mg of levetiracetam! Now!"

"We don't stock that, InuYasha," Sango informed him.

"What? Why? I need something for his seizure, right now!"

"That'll make us prone to getting robbed, duh. Levetiracetam is worth a lot on the black market these days." Sango thought she had given InuYasha a "matter-of-fact" answer only to find InuYasha staring at her with an impatient glare.

"Okay, okay..." Sango was going to run to the medicine storage until Midoriko handed InuYasha an epinephrine autoinjector and 600mg of felbamate tablets.

He hadn't administered this procedure in ages but he was still highly proficient.

"His condition has been stabilized but we need to get him to the hospital," InuYasha instructed.

* * *

><p>After helping with Suikotsu's condition, Sango somehow managed to persuade him to stay until they closed the clinic at 11 pm. He had been treating patients all day. He had gotten his ears grabbed by obnoxious little children all day. This one creepy old lady in her seventies asked InuYasha to kiss her "boo-boo" better.<p>

InuYasha was infuriated. Dammit, he needed to find the clinic a director, soon. Sango had gotten his number and by the looks of it, she was going to use it to her advantage as her new 911 emergency support line for the clinic.

Stupid Bankotsu for turning down the job. InuYasha mentally cursed his friend but InuYasha knew that he couldn't blame Bankotsu. He would have done the same thing himself. No one in their right mind would want to run a place like Shikon no Tama except for people like Kikyo.

People like Kikyo...

Like Kikyo...

Like her... Kagome Higurashi.

It struck him like a lightning bolt.

Brilliant.

Kagome Higurashi would definitely take the position at Shikon no Tama. That woman knew what she was signing up for. The only reasons he rejected her was because InuYasha wanted to give Bankotsu the job. With Bankotsu rejecting the offer, he could offer the job to Kagome. Actually, Kagome was more suitable for the position at Shikon than Bankotsu was anyways.

Then it dawned on him, he and Kagome weren't exactly on good terms and he was the one to blame.

Kagome seemed so eager the other day when she had come in for her interview but he had already premeditated that he was going to hire Bankotsu for the director position instead. He had never even considered Kagome seriously for the position.

Karma's a bitch because now the joke is on him. He had turned away Higurashi who wanted the job the most.

What was he going to do? Go and plea for her to take the job? He had never pleaded to anyone his entire life and he wasn't going to start now. No way in hell was he going to beg for Kagome's forgiveness and somehow persuade her to reconsider. He wasn't going to start now. No, not him. InuYasha Takahashi never asked anything from anyone. Begging was below him, he wasn't going to devalue himself in front of a human girl.

Not a chance.

* * *

><p>InuYasha took off his mask and the coverall of his scrubs. He disposed of the latex gloves as he walked out of the surgery. He had just completed a simple coronary artery bypass graft to relieve a patient's angina.<p>

"That was beautiful, Dr. Takahashi," complimented his medical staff who was walking out of the surgery with him.

"I know, I can't believe several doctors suggested percutaneous coronary intervention for this patient. Luckily I used the CABG procedure or who knows what may have happened to her," InuYasha boasted. Yes, he was the best. Oh, he was a god. People's lives were in his hands and he saved every one of the, every single time. He was the best, of the best.

"InuYasha, don't forget you have a dinner party hosted by the chief of medical staff tonight at Tokyo Memorial. The event starts at 6 o'clock tonight, white tie attire. You can't miss it; it's the most important event in the medical field in Japan. I've already picked up your tuxedo," Kaede caught InuYasha as he walked out of the surgical room and began briefing him about the extremely important affair tonight.

"Yeah, I know, give me a moment, I'll be right back," InuYasha was going to change out of his scrubs. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted.

"What have you been up to? You look haggard," Kaede was curious; she had never seen InuYasha so fatigued on a Monday morning.

"I was at the Shikon clinic until they closed at 11 last night, dammit."

"Oh, InuYasha?" Kaede caught his attention before he closed the door.

"What?" What did the old hag still want from him?

"There's a Dr. Watanabe Tsubaki waiting for you in the reception."

"Doctor who?"

"Naraku recommended this doctor for the position."

So the stupid Naraku finally gave some input.

"Tell him to wait, Kaede."

"InuYasha, it's a she," Kaede gave InuYasha a wide grin. "She's an interesting one too."

"Oh?" InuYasha's eyebrow arched up, this may be indeed interesting.


	6. Chapter 5: Only Hanlon's Razor

**Only Hanlon's Razor**

* * *

><p>Hanlon's Razor: <em>"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."<em>

* * *

><p>"Dr. Watanabe, how are you doing, I'm InuYasha Takahashi."<p>

"InuYasha, what a pleasure, call me Tsubaki."

InuYasha cringed when Tsubaki addressed him. He didn't mind being called InuYasha; in fact, he would have preferred that Tsubaki called him by his first name. However, it was their first encounter and he felt slightly offended by Tsubaki's straightforward demeanor of addressing him by his first name right away. He would have liked to be acknowledged as Dr. Takahashi first. Instead, she had reacted as if they have known each other closely when he had just met her.

His dislike for her increased even more when he smelled the overbearing scent of her hairspray and perfume. This is a surgical practice for heaven's sake. Thank goodness for his central air purification system. As he surveyed her face, the thick layer of makeup she wore repulsed him. Everything about her was just so... unnatural.

"InuYasha?"

"Kikyo?"

InuYasha was startled; Kikyo was standing next to Tsubaki staring at him curiously.

"InuYasha, are you okay?" Tsubaki wasn't sure why InuYasha called Kikyo's name and cringed.

"InuYasha, why is she here?" There was displeasure in Kikyo's voice.

InuYasha answered neither woman.

"I need you to tell me, InuYasha. Why is Tsubaki here?" Kikyo repeated her question, this time, more gravely.

"Hello? InuYasha?" Tsubaki was really confused; InuYasha seemed to be looking past her and not at her.

Wait... Tsubaki can neither see Kikyo nor hear her voice. Only he could. He didn't know how to process this phenomenon - why was he the only one who was able to see or hear Kikyo?

"InuYasha, answer me." Kikyo was demanding answers from him but he couldn't just start talking to Kikyo with Tsubaki there while standing in the reception area of his own practice. Everyone would think there was something very wrong with him, not that there wasn't in actuality. He needed to think of something, fast.

"Kikyo... eh... you must have known Kikyo, Tsubaki." InuYasha tried to carry on the conversation with her. "You must know Naraku as well then, seeing he has recommended to fill in for Kikyo as director."

_'There you go Kikyo that should have answered your question.'_

There was an eerie silence before Kikyo protested, "What? Are you telling me that this woman is going to be taking my place? InuYasha, you can't possibly let this happen! Naraku recommended her? Why? Tell me!"

Kikyo rarely raised her voice, seeing her reaction to having Tsubaki as her replacement, something must have been wrong. Very wrong.

"Yes, quite well, Kikyo and I used to work together in Shikon no Tama actually," Tsubaki forced a smile on her face.

"Yeah, note 'used' to work together, InuYasha. She used the 'past' tense," Kikyo warned InuYasha.

"Oh? Why did you leave the clinic? Now you'd like to come back as director?" InuYasha was quite curious. Why would this woman, given an opportunity to leave the clinic only come back again... Or in another case, if she loved the clinic so much, why did she leave in the first place. Most importantly, why was Kikyo so opposed to her taking the position as director?

"I had some personal issues to resolve," Tsubaki replied. When InuYasha didn't look to convinced, she added, "With my family."

"I guess we can continue the interview in my office, Tsubaki, this way please," he gestured for her to follow him.

Kikyo followed them closely.

"She's lying, InuYasha, I sent her away!" Kikyo got ahead of InuYasha and was now walking in front and backwards facing him.

"Can you elaborate please, Tsubaki?" InuYasha prompted.

"It was about personal finances," Tsubaki hesitated and didn't seem like she was going to elaborate any further.

"She was stealing medication from the clinic and bootlegging them!" Kikyo finally revealed the truth. "You can't hire her, InuYasha!"

InuYasha wasn't exactly the good guy himself. He rarely played within the rules but stealing medications from your own clinic and bootlegging them for financial reasons? First of all, that was against their profession's moral code; second, that was a new low and outrageously unacceptable. InuYasha was never the type to judge other people based on their morals but he felt the urge to do so for the first time. Before they even reached his office, he knew the interview was over.

"Actually Tsubaki, I've already hired someone for the position," InuYasha lied. Well, maybe it wasn't a really a lie; he immediately thought of Kagome Higurashi; but then, a half-truth was a whole lie. She wasn't exactly hired.

"You already found someone? InuYasha, that's wonderful who is it?" Kikyo was relieved and her face blossomed at the mention of a replacement for her that wasn't Tsubaki.

"Who is it, InuYasha?" Tsubaki looked annoyed. Hadn't Naraku told her InuYasha's first choice and buddy from Hopkins turned him down?

"Doctor Higurashi was hired last week and she'll be starting later this week."

"Doctor Higurashi as in Kagome Higurashi? You can't be serious, InuYasha!" Tsubaki snarled. "That little poor girl can't run a clinic!"

Kagome? InuYasha wasn't sure what Tsubaki's reference was towards but when Kagome came in the other day, all he noticed about her was her spectacular Stanford School of Medicine doctorate degree and her work with health service organizations.

"I'm sorry Tsubaki but I think it's best you leave now," InuYasha politely asked the outraged woman in front of her.

Kikyo had a wide grin on her face.

"My feet hurt like hell in these heels. I wore them just for this stupid interview and now you're turning me down?" Tsubaki began to throw a fit. What a classless woman.

"Dr. Watanabe, just because you wore heels to an interview for the position of clinic director doesn't mean you'll get the job, alright? Now you're disturbing my patients."

InuYasha wasn't sure what was going on, Tsubaki's visit was just so bizarre.

* * *

><p>This woman was beyond logical reasoning. At least Kikyo was getting a good laugh out of this situation.<p>

That dirty Naraku had some questionable taste in women. Tsubaki? Was he serious in recommending her?

"InuYasha, did you really hire... what was her name?" Kikyo began.

"Kagome, Kagome Higurashi. And to satisfy your curiosity, Kikyo, no I actually did not. I did not hire her." InuYasha tapped his fingers on his desk while he leaned in his chair.

"Well, why not?" Kikyo didn't seem pleased.

"I just said that to get Tsubaki out of here seeing you didn't like her that much."

"You listened to me although you were so desperate to find a new director? That's kind of sweet, Inuyasha."

InuYasha didn't appreciate Kikyo's tone. She was mocking him. He wasn't being sweet; he just disliked Tsubaki.

"Well, aren't you going to hire her now?"

InuYasha didn't answer Kikyo. He would like to hire her but he kind of fucked up his relationship with Kagome. He couldn't let go of his ego to admit his wrongdoing.

_Ring... Ring... Ring..._ His cellphone was ringing.

InuYasha glanced at his caller ID.

Shikon no Tama.

Dammit, what did the clinic want from him? He grudgingly accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"InuYasha! We're short of staff here, I need your help at the clinic!"

It was Sango. Curse that woman; what was she thinking? Did the Japan's greatest cardiac surgeon InuYasha Takahashi suddenly worked for free at a free clinic in the slums? Hell no.

"Sango?" InuYasha tried to smile as he said her name.

Hearing InuYasha in such an agreeable mood seemed to have filled Sango with a sudden ray of hope, "Yes, InuYasha?"

"Do me a favor would you? Next time you need help... don't call me."

With that, InuYasha ended the call and turned off his phone. When he looked up, Kikyo was gone.

For a moment, he felt restful.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._ It was line 1, Reception.

_Curses! What did Kaede want?_

InuYasha unwillingly picked up the receiver; just as he had predicted, it was Kaede.

"InuYasha, we have an emergency, there's something wrong with Rin," the urgency and trembling sound of Kaede's voice alerted him that something was terribly wrong. "They just arrived. I'm preparing for an emergency operation."

Rin's condition. Dammit. He was afraid something like this would happen. It had been months and he had thought she might have avoided it.

InuYasha sprinted out of his office in frenzy.

* * *

><p>"Rin, listen to me, you're going to be all right," Sesshomaru assured his wife while holding her tiny hands firmly in his.<p>

It was strange to see a multimillion-business man such as himself to be shaking like this. For the first time in his life, he felt fear. Genuine fear.

He wasn't even sure of his own words anymore; his reassurances were now merely empty lies. He could ruthlessly take out the competition, bring about successful IPOs, and persuade his board of directors to invest in any venture he proposed but he still couldn't protect her.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a weak squeeze, "Sesshomaru, save the baby... I want our baby to be safe..."

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 6 Months ago. Casual Dinner. Sesshomaru Takahashi Residence.<strong>

It was Friday night, also known as the start of the weekends; Sesshomaru and Rin invited some family and friends over for a casual dinner. It was... typical.

It was hard to believe it but yes, Sesshomaru Takahashi actually had friends who frequented his place, complimentary of Rin Takahashi. Since they had married, he became a more pleasant person to be around.

After most of the guests had left, InuYasha found himself alone in the living room watching the television and munching on a box of mochi while Sesshomaru and Miroku were being stupid in the dining room. They were playing a drinking game of Pin Pon Pan and it sounded like they were in the midst of a heated competition. He intended to drive home that evening; being a good citizen who never drank and drove, InuYasha decided to chill for a bit on the couch. He has had nine surgeries this week and he was exhausted.

He loved his job and he was proficient at it but he wasn't super human; excuse me, super half-demon. Whatever. The bottom line was that he was ready to check out and play brain dead for the next two days.

After loading the dishwasher, Rin walked into the living room to find him.

"InuYasha?"

InuYasha turned his attention to his sister-in-law.

"Don't they need three people or something, Rin?"

"Those two are having the time of their lives, I don't want to disturb them." She continued with a slight blush. "Besides, won't be drinking anymore for the next few months."

"Yeah, those two are being morons. Ha, New Year's Resolution? You know, you can have a light drink from time to time; it's not that big of a health hazard." InuYasha sat up and took a sip of orange juice. Yes, Rin had a heart condition but some red wine was good for her heart.

"I'm pregnant."

Upon hearing Rin's announcement, InuYasha choked on his OJ and was gasping for air.

"Rin..."

Cough.

"Rin... you're ... whh... whha... what?" InuYasha looked like he had been shocked by electricity. His face was bright red from chocking on juice. His ears were perked up and his wide eyes were fixed on Rin. "You can't..."

InuYasha was lost for words. What the hell was she thinking? Stupid, stupid, stupid little girl.

"I know what I'm doing, InuYasha. I love Sesshomaru and I know when he married me he knew that we weren't going to have children but..." Rin dwelled for a minute. "I want to give him a child."

"Does he know?"

"I haven't told him yet, I just found out last week."

"Rin, you know you might not be able to make it to term. You might lose your own life along the way," InuYasha frowned. He was her surgeon; he out of anyone should know Rin's health condition the best.

"I know."

There was a long and eerie silence between them. InuYasha's memories drifted to three years ago. Rin, then Hokkaido, was receiving treatment at Takahashi Cardiac for mitral valve stenosis. At 22, she had already had five surgeries for her congenial valvular heart disease. InuYasha inserted an artificial heart valve for her, which was an operation that changed her life.

She had been cured by the magical hands of Takahashi.

Sesshomaru was on the board of directors and investors for Takahashi Cardiac. When he rushed out of a quarterly meeting one day, he had ran into Rin and knocked her off her feet quite literally. He then offered to carry her back to her patient room bridal style and sparks flew.

One year later, some tears and drama and a six-carat ring with an one knee heartfelt marriage proposal, Miss Rin Hokkaido became Mrs. Rin Takahashi.

As a result of her heart conditions, InuYasha had advised her sister-in-law and brother that having children wasn't in the interest of her health. Her heart wouldn't be able to meet the increased demand for blood circulation during pregnancy. Sesshomaru fully understood that; Rin meant the world to him and he was content without children.

However, apparently Mrs. Takahashi had plans of her own.

"As your brother, I'm delighted to be an uncle but as your surgeon... are you trying to commit suicide or punish Sesshomaru?" InuYasha wanted to face palm himself and perhaps shake some senses into Rin.

"InuYasha, you know that I'll need your help."

He was upset with the young woman beside him but somehow he managed to suppress his anger and gave in to her request.

"I'll be here for you, Rin."

InuYasha may be a notorious jerk but deep down, he had a soft spot for his little sister-in-law Rin. There was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on. She was just so pleasant; as the youngest daughter of the Hokkaido family, she was brought up in an upper class circle as a tactful, refined, graceful and compassionate lady.

With one little pleading look, she had the Takahashi brothers wrapped around her fingers.

After all, she did manage to get Japan's most infamous heartbreaker and eligible bachelor Sesshomaru Takahashi to get on one knee and promise to love her for all of eternality. Despite a ten-year age gap, the couple was happily and blissfully married.

"But you know, there are complications. I just don't know when it'll happen," InuYasha began. "Your heart might not be able to keep up with the additional demand for circulation. You might experience hypercoagulability in pregnancy, in other words, blood clot."

"And?" Rin knew InuYasha wasn't done yet.

"In the worst scenario, you'll develop deep vein thrombosis. It's the second most common cause of maternal death. I can prescribe Warfarin for you but they'll cause birth defects. Other than that..."

"I can only pray for the best." Rin finished the sentence for him and gave a reassuring nod. "I understand."

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

She felt like she was being crushed from inside out. She could feel her heart beating against her ribcage. Her chest was in extreme pain and breathing was getting harder and harder. This wasn't the type of pain she felt when she was younger every time her heart failed. This was worse. Way worse. With each breath, it became increasingly difficult to catch the next. She felt the pulsating sensation of blood flow from her heart through her body.

"Rin! Rin! Rin! You're going to be okay!"

She smiled when she heard her husband's voice. She knew she was having a heart failure of some sort. Just earlier this morning she felt fine; she had made breakfast for Sesshomaru and herself. But by noon, she began to feel pain in her legs and she had to call Sesshomaru back from a very important business engagement because she knew something was terribly wrong.

Her raven tresses draped over her shoulders and her chocolate eyes half closed. Even in pain she looked exquisite. It was no wonder to anyone how Sesshomaru had fell so hard for her. But now droplets of sweat trialed down her face and her once luscious lips were pale from the lack of blood circulation.

"Sweetie, InuYasha is coming," Kaede patted her sweat away from her forehead with a handkerchief.

"Mrs. Takahashi, hold still, I'm going to listen to your heart," Dr. Hiro, one of the specialist at the practice diagnosed Rin with her stethoscope. She heard a heart murmur and frowned. When she placed her fingers firmly and flat against the left of Rin's chest, she felt a vibration. This wasn't good at all but as she stood up, she gave Rin an encouraging smile and a squeeze on the shoulders.

The nurse took some blood samples and pushed Rin in a wheel chair to change her clothes for surgery.

* * *

><p>Sesshomaru was pacing back and forth in the waiting room with a deep frown on his forehead. His long and fine silver hair was tangled and the silver silk tie Rin had tied for him this morning hung loose around the unbuttoned collar of his crisp dress shirt. He clenched his gray blazer in one hand and was taking out his frustrations on the blazer's fabric. He was just in an important business meeting for the initial public offering of one of the largest privately held electronic company in Japan, but he fled the engagement as soon as he received a devastating call from his wife.<p>

He hadn't wanted this child. Don't get him wrong, if Rin had been a healthy 26-year-old woman he would have been over the moon. Although he never liked children or expected to have any, he was more than willing to start a large family with Rin if she had been healthy. But in her case, her body couldn't handle conceiving and nurturing a growing child in her.

At this moment, he hated the little monster than had made his wife so deathly ill. If she had died because of it, he didn't know how he'd stand looking at the child anymore.

It seemed like yesterday when her words, "I'm pregnant" had hit him like a train.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback. 6 Months ago. Sesshomaru Takahashi Residence.<strong>

She twitched when she felt the morning light hit her face. She yanked uncomfortably as she tried to free her legs from the tangled and ripped bed sheets. As she began to open her eyes, she found herself in the warm embrace of her husband. She looked up to meet his gaze.

"Morning beautiful," Sesshomaru greeted Rin with a big grin over his face.

Reflecting on last night's event, Rin's face flushed red as she pulled the bed sheets closer to her bare body.

Last night's event was especially... memorable. Since she became pregnant, she had become more sensitive to his touch.

Sesshomaru pulled her closer to breathe in her delicious scent.

She sighed.

"What's wrong, love?" Her sigh threw Sesshomaru off. Something was troubling his precious Rin.

She should really tell him. She was five weeks in already; sooner or later she would be showing. In fact, her cup sized already increased by one size along with her dress size. She was sure that he noticed the changes in her body lately.

Rin felt silly; why wasn't she telling her husband that she was pregnant? They had been happily married for two years now and they were an upper class family that had more than enough resources to raise a child. They were both happy in their marriage, even after two years they seemed to have never gotten over the honeymoon stage.

Right now though, instead of telling him that he was going to become a father, she was moping like a teenager who was about to tell her boyfriend of two months that she was pregnant and bracing herself like he was going to leave her.

She reminded herself - Rin, stop being such a big coward and just tell him already.

"Sweetie..." Rin paused for a minute. "I... I'm pregnant."

Just like that, he felt his world stopped for a minute. Perhaps he heard it wrong because for a moment he swore she said that she was pregnant.

"Pardon?" Sesshomaru prompted Rin, waiting for her to repeat what she had just told him.

"I'm pregnant, Sesshomaru. You're going to be a father."

He heard it correctly the first time but he wished that he never did. For a brief shiny moment, he felt an adrenaline rush that had made him giddy that he was going to be a father. But now that common sense had returned to him, he wasn't sure how to feel about this situation anymore.

This child could and was going to kill her.

"Rin..."

"I'm sorry... are you mad?" Rin couldn't turn around to see her husband's face. She knew that he wasn't actually infuriated by the news, he was probably angry at her out of concern for her health. She had this fantasy when she was younger that she'd get married in a fairytale wedding to her Mr. Right then she would start a family; and when the moment she told her husband that they were expecting their first child, he'd prance around the streets of Tokyo announcing to the world that he was going to be a dad.

She got her fairytale wedding and her Mr. Right but she wasn't sure Sesshomaru wanted this news.

"Rin... I'm sorry... It was me, I shouldn't have been so careless..." Sesshomaru buried his face in Rin's neck. He wanted to himself. It was his fault that Rin had become pregnant. Dammit. He was putting her in grave danger.

"I'm keeping the baby, Sesshomaru."

Dammit, she was so stubborn too. He knew he couldn't change her mind. He was at a crossroad: of course he was happy that she was having his child but at the same time he could very much lose her and the baby.

"Rin, I can't be any happier... but I want you..." Sesshomaru began before Rin interrupted him.

"More than our child..." Tears began forming in Rin's eyes. She wanted to give him a child to bear the Takahashi family's legacy. Although she knew that he didn't care much about that, she felt it was her uxorial duty to have a child. She didn't purposefully avoid her birth control, it just... happened. She was ready to suffer any consequences of her decision.

* * *

><p>Rin's legs were indigo. It was the prime symptom of deep vein thrombosis. Both of her legs were filled with fluid and she was having a spasm. The pain was excruciating.<p>

Did she regret carrying this child? No. Would she give anything to go back in time and make sure the conception did not occur? Never.

She shifted her hands to her bulging stomach. Her baby. Even if she was going to die today, she wanted her baby to live. The little life within her was the essence of her and Sesshomaru's love. She was going to be strong for her baby and husband. She knew very well that although still not to term, her baby was well developed enough to live.

"Rin!" InuYasha ran out of the surgery room in his scrub.

Rin smiled at him tentatively.

She was going to tell InuYasha her wishes before Sesshomaru decided to pull his brother aside, "InuYasha, I need to speak with you first."

He suppressed his voice so his wife wouldn't be able to hear his conversation with his brother.

* * *

><p>"If anything goes wrong in the surgery, I want you to save Rin first."<p>

"Sesshomaru... You know Rin would want you to save the baby first."

"I can't live without her. If it's between her and the child, I choose Rin."

It was the baby that was making his precious Rin so ill; he hated it. If anything should happen to Rin, he didn't know if he'd be able to look at the child without hating it for murdering its mother. He just needed his Rin. Rin. Only her. Nothing else.

"I'll try my best, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru nodded and looked thankfully at InuYasha. Growing up, he and InuYasha had their differences. In a way, Sesshomaru always despised his half-demon half brother. He also hated his father for leaving his mother and he also hated that human woman who became his step mother. But if there was a time he needed InuYasha the most, it was now.

His world was in his half brother's hands.

* * *

><p>InuYasha walked over to Rin with a weak smile and guilt that he had somewhat agreed to Sesshomaru's request. He was in a dilemma: he knew if he saved Rin and not the child, Rin would never be the same emotionally. She would be an empty shell and damaged. But if she saved the child and not Rin, Sesshomaru would never be the same again either and he would never forgive him. Heck, he wouldn't be the same again if his little sister died.<p>

Rin was his sister-in-law, but in a way, he loved her platonically and protected her like the little human sister he never had.

Either way, InuYasha wouldn't be able to live with himself.

"How are you doing, kiddo?"

"InuYasha, I want you to save the baby... If anything happens, I want the baby to live."

"That's not what Sesshomaru seems to want, Rin."

"I'm your patient, my wishes come first. Please, InuYasha, I want my child to live." Rin begged with tears in her eyes. She reached for InuYasha's hand and gave it a firm squeeze before everything went dark before her eyes.

* * *

><p>"Heart rate, 62 bpm. Blood pressure: systolic, 101 mmHg; diastolic, 43 mmHg. The patient is in left heart failure; we are inserting an artificial aortic heart valve and administering anticoagulant to treat the thrombosis. Commence." InuYasha's voice was steady but for the first time in his life, he felt a queasy feeling as he used the scalpel and a bone cutter to open Rin's chest. As he inserted the rib separator, he felt his knees weaken.<p>

What was wrong? He had done this thousand of times before but this time, he was unsure of the outcome of this operation. Nothing should go wrong... right?

"Hemostat."

He was handed the hemostat. InuYasha used the instrument to clip onto the vein controlling the entrance of the valve.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._ The machine was off the charts.

"What's wrong?" InuYasha demanded answers.

"She's in hypertension from the blood clot."

"Shoot. I can't administer the anticoagulant or she'll bleed to death. Her blood is continuing to clot because it's preparing itself for labour and preventing postpartum hemorrhage."

"Sir, we're losing her; 32 bpm. 43, 19 mmHg."

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Sir, we can only save one, the baby or the adult?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

InuYasha needed a moment to think.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Sir, the baby or the adult?"

Dammit. His latex gloves were covered in her blood.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Sir, we need to act now! Sir!"

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._


	7. Chapter 6: Simply Sturgeon's Law

**Simply Sturgeon's Law **

* * *

><p>Sturgeon's Law: <em>"Ninety percent of everything is crud."<em>

* * *

><p>Sesshomaru Takahashi sat in the waiting room, clenching on a cup of coffee with both of his hands, his knuckles were turning white and he was staring lifelessly at the white wall. His mind was blank. Life without her almost lacked purpose. If she died... If Rin died. He would have to enduring waking up alone every morning. There would be no more heartfelt sticky notes in his bento everyday telling him that she had loved him. It would be his first Christmas in 4 years without her. How he celebrated the winter holidays before he had met her, he couldn't remember. If she died...<p>

A part of him would die too.

* * *

><p><strong>4 Years Ago. Takahashi Cardiac.<strong>

"The ratings for Takahashi Cardiac in the last quarter has been amazing, good work, InuYasha!" the Investor was pleased with the private practice's performance. The return on investment and equity from Takahashi Cardiac had been higher than industry benchmark.

"I'm currently doing a research on a new non-invasive technique of -" InuYasha began until a woman who had just walked into the room with an apologetic frown cut him off.

"Takahashi-san," a woman meekly walked into the conference room and whispered. She tried to be surreptitious. Too late. The board's attention had all been diverged to the woman. She was Sesshomaru Takahashi's executive assistant. "The IPO with Kato-san fell through."

Sesshomaru had been working on an initial public offering deal with the electrical company for months; it was one of his top priorities. His ashen face was filled with confusion and rage. He needed to go and fix this. Now.

"Excuse me, gentlemen."

* * *

><p>Little Miss Rin Hokkaido was bored.<p>

She had been put to rest for over two weeks now, InuYasha's orders. Takahashi Cardiac was great; Doctor InuYasha Takahashi was quite friendly and she absolutely enjoyed Kaede's company but there was nothing she could do. She had been wandering around in the clinic for a quarter of an hour now, looking for something amusing to do.

Suddenly, the beautiful bouquet of pink lilies in the waiting room caught her attention.

'They're so pretty. They smell so nice.'

With her eyes glued to the bouquet of fresh-cut flowers, she advanced down the hall unaware of her surroundings.

Then suddenly.

Wham.

The force pounded the air out of her lungs.

Pain.

_'Ouch.'_

Piercing physical pain.

For a moment, everything was fuzzy.

Pain.

It hurt.

She rubbed her neck and slowly opened her eyes - there he was.

Sesshomaru winced in pain. The great demon was in utter pain. Oh the pain.

He was furious, 'Who the hell is this?'

He recollected himself and looked ahead at the small mass on the floor by his feet - there she was. She was perfect.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

"Both." InuYasha's cool voice was steady and calm. "I want both."

"Kawasaki, hold this," InuYasha commanded his assistant surgeon to hold the hemostat in place. "

There wasn't time to call a gynecologist. He hasn't seen this being done this since over a decade ago while he was in residency. Dammit.

He was going to perform a Caesarean section. The baby should be just about 29 weeks. It was premature but it was going to live. He was going to do it. He was going to perform the C-section. He needed to be quick but very precise.

"Straight mayos," InuYasha commanded his team calmly. "I need a pair of Adsons, now. I'm going to perform a laparotomy."

He made an incision across her abdomen.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Sir! She's bleeding from the ventricle! You can only save the baby!"

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

No, he was going to save both. He owed it to Rin. He owed it to Sesshomaru. He wasn't going to lose her. She was family. He could do this.

"Her heart stopped beating, Sir!" the surgical staff was in a frenzy.

"Epinephrine 1 mg! Now!" His voice was commanding. InuYasha wasn't going to give up yet.

* * *

><p><strong>3 Years ago.<strong>

"Let go of me, Sesshomaru!" Rin twitched in pain; he was tugging on her wrist too tightly. "Let me go!"

Sesshomaru had finally convinced Rin to see him.

"No! You can't go until you've explain yourself, Rin!" Sesshomaru was enraged; Rin had not answered his calls for days. He missed her. So much. He was also so worried about her.

"Does it matter, Sesshomaru?" Rin looked away, avoiding his eyes because she knew as soon as she caught sight of them, she wouldn't be able to defy him. "It's over."

He loosened his grip on her and stared at her furiously. Her cream colored sundress shone at dusk as the wind carried the fabric in its path.

The wind by the sea was strong; the petite woman shivered.

He had never been so certain about anything in his life, he cracked the question.

"Marry me."

"What?" she whispered softly; she had been fearing these two words for so long.

"Marry me, Rin."

"I... I don't think I ..." Rin hesitated. She wanted to say yes but she couldn't. "I can't give you a successor."

"All I need is you in my life. I don't need an heir. I need you and only you."

The great demon lord kneeled down on the wooden deck of the porch. The crashing waves of the sea washed the shore, filling in the silence between them.

Drops of warm tears poured down her cheeks, "Yes."

* * *

><p><strong>Present day.<strong>

The medical staff injected the needle directly into her heart and hoped for a miracle. The epinephrine was supposed to give the heart muscle a shock and to restart it again.

"Sir, there's a faint heart beat!"

_Good._

"Allis Adairs." He was handed the instrument upon request. He used it to clamp the uterus from bleeding.

There. He saw it, the miniscule baby.

"Kocher."

He used the instrument to clamp the umbilical cord.

"Long Kelley."

He removed the baby from the womb and hand handed it to his medical staff.

"We need a bulb syringe to suction the fluid from his mouth and nose!"

As soon as the fluid was drained, the baby began to wail.

"Sir! It's a baby boy!"

A boy for the Takahashi family. He smiled.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Dammit, Rin was having a hemorrhage from the Caesarean section. The uterus was hemorrhaging.

"Let's get her another bag of 'A' negative blood!" Shoot... shoot... Damn. Damn. Damn. She was losing more blood than she was receiving. He needed to make a decision to stop the hemorrhaging now.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Then it struck him. As much as he hated it, it was the only way.

"I need to remove her uterus. Someone get me a pair of Metzenbaum scissors!"

He knew by removing her uterus, Rin would never be able to have children again and that she was going to be sterile. He didn't know how she'd feel about that. But seeing the complication from her first pregnancy, he highly doubted the possibility of another child for his brother and sister-in-law and most importantly, he needed to save her life.

With quick and adroit incisions, he removed the cause of the hemorrhage and stopped her from bleeding.

He didn't have time to lament for her loss. The sleeves of his scrub cover were stained black with blood.

"I'm going to close her abdomen."

InuYasha was very meticulous in his stitch work. He worked swiftly across giving her a perfect stitching; it was going to be scar free once it healed. At least Rin won't have an ugly scar across her abdomen to constantly remind her of the removal of her uterus.

He moved back to her heart, his area of specialty.

"I need the artificial aortic valve."

He used the forceps and fastidiously inserted the valve into her heart. Perfect.

"Aortic valve successfully inserted. Remove the tubes and send her a shock. Can I get the pacers?"

He observed her heart's pace and made sure it was paced at the right speed and sewed her sternum in small wires. He closed the incision with surgical tapes.

"Can we drain the blood and fluids from the heart? I also need tubes to drain the fluid from her nose and stomach."

He drained the excessive fluids collected in her during the surgery. Upon draining, he applied the bandages and dressing over the newly operated areas.

"Give her an injection of fondaparinux to unclog the blood for her thrombosis and take her to the post surgery recovery room."

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

He knew everything was under his control all this time and it wasn't an incredible miracle or anything; he knew what he was doing... but it was just all so surreal. When the surgery commenced, he felt fearful. But during the surgery, he didn't have time to worry - he just made quick and accurate decisions. Now the surgery was successfully completed. Thank the deities' blessings.

"Congratulations, Dr. Takahashi, the surgery was a grand success! Only you could have done it!" His surgical team was bewildered. Even they couldn't believe it; Doctor Takahashi InuYasha was good, but they realized they had underestimated him before. This man was freaking unbelievable - he was second to none.

* * *

><p>InuYasha was exhausted. He didn't know how long the surgery took, it was almost like all the time in the world was condensed. As he disposed of his mask, the surgical gloves and the cover of his scrub, he slipped into his white coat.<p>

He stepped out of the surgery room and was greeted by his brother's tight embrace.

"InuYasha..." Sesshomaru's voice was raspy. "Thank you... thank you..."

InuYasha didn't know how to act. Should he enjoy the moment or pinch himself? Was that his half-brother? Sesshomaru did not... Did not give hugs. Ever. Of 33 years of his life, he had never, ever, ever received a hug from his older brother, ever. InuYasha patted Sesshomaru on the back and returned the gesture; he should let it sink in because this was probably the only hug he would ever get from Sesshomaru in his lifetime.

"Just as I promised, she's going to be okay, Sesshomaru."

InuYasha led Sesshomaru to the post surgery recovery room where Rin was laying in bed with intravenous, wires and a monitor attached to her. An oxygen mask covered over her nose and mouth. She was still asleep.

"How long will it be until she wakes up?" Sesshomaru whispered to InuYasha.

"Not for at least another ten hours or so, her body's been through a lot, she needs a lot of time to recover." InuYasha replied softly back to his brother. "Do you want to see your son?"

Sesshomaru paused for a moment. Wait, did InuYasha just say "son?"

Sesshomaru couldn't believe his ears. His... son? Had his brother manage to save his wife and his... son? He had a son now? He hadn't expected this.

Why doesn't anyone tell him a damn thing around here?

A son?

His wife had given him a child: a son to carry the Takahashi family name.

He never fancied children and never had he imagined that he, Sesshomaru Takahashi would have a son.

"Can... I see him?"

* * *

><p>His son was tiny. He was born 8 weeks premature. With his hands and nose firmly pressed against the glass, Sesshomaru was staring his tiny son who was on the other side of the glass in the incubator across the room. He was a split image of him - golden eyes and silvery hair, a Takahashi.<p>

"The pediatrician and gynecologist are on their way," InuYasha began. He was about to continue until he realized Sesshomaru was too absorbed by the sight of his son. He was probably tuning him out and absorbed by the sight of his son.

"He's only three pounds and four ounces but everything seems to be fine; for starters, he's got a strong heart. The pediatrician will give him another exam."

InuYasha left Sesshomaru to soak in the newly discovered joy of fatherhood.

The child was a half demon, very much like InuYasha. Sesshomaru had despised half demons but that little thing there was the essence of his and Rin's love. He would love him unconditionally and protect him with his life whether he was half demon or full.

The demon lord's eyes were glued to the little bundle in the incubator. Who knew a 6'3" grown man could be brought to such helplessness at the sight of a newborn?

It was his newborn that she had given him.

He cooed and grinned. He was a dad. He was going to be the best dad.


	8. Chapter 7: Not Quite Leibniz's Law

**Not Quite Leibniz's Law**

* * *

><p>Leibniz's Law: <em>"A principle in metaphysics also known as the Identity of Indiscernibles. It states: 'If two objects have all their properties in common, then they are one and the same object.'"<em>

* * *

><p>"Thank you, otouto-chan," Rin cradled her little bundle of joy in her arms and looked up to InuYasha with watery eyes. She let out a giggle; she had just called InuYasha "otouto-chan" although he was older than she was. Oh formalities.<p>

InuYasha cracked a smile and he was smiling ear to ear. He raised his hand and gently poked Rin's nose; "You and the little guy scared me in there."

"Mrs. and Mr. Takahashi, Doctor Takahashi, the little guy is perfectly healthy. Mrs. Takahashi, we'll have to keep him in the incubator for several more days. If you can just hand him to me," Doctor Akio was an experienced pediatrician. She carefully supported the newborn's neck and placed him back into the incubator. "Once again, congratulations to the Takahashi family."

Rin nodded at Doctor Akio and watched longingly as the nurses pushed her son further away from her patient bed. Sesshomaru gently kissed his wife's forehead and caressed her cheeks.

"Thank you, Rin," Sesshomaru looked lovingly at his wife; she leaned closer to his chest.

InuYasha was relieved to hear that his little nephew was born healthy from the pediatrician and despite Rin's congenial conditions; the little thing was born with a strong heart. Rin was awake now and had just seen her son for the first time. The child would have to remain in the incubator for a few more days before he could do without it.

InuYasha hadn't left Takahashi Cardiac for the past two days while Rin remained in a deep slumber; now that she had awaken from her surgery and was well, InuYasha suddenly felt an epiphany and was compelled to do something generous.

"I'm going to leave you two alone while I attend to some administrative affairs," InuYasha grinned at his brother and sister-in-law as he walked out of Rin's room and towards his reception.

"Kaede, do you still have Kagome's file?"

They say that when you recuperated from an illness, everything would become much more lucid. He may not have recuperated himself but seeing his immediate family member recover from a life threatening surgery, he lived vicariously through Rin. In the light of the lucidity, he overcame his ego then felt the need to find Kagome and apologize. What he was feeling wasn't rational or normal. It was probably the result of an extreme case of sleep deprivation.

"InuYasha, here's the file," Kaede paused. "What's this sudden interest in Kagome?"

"I'm going to call her and offer the job," InuYasha had a disturbingly bright smile across his face.

Kaede flinched. She was either imagining or there was something unusual happening to the Takahashi brothers. Well, that was understandable - the impossible had happened. Sesshomaru became a father and InuYasha became an uncle and Rin after receiving four bags of blood, her seventh heart surgery, and hysterectomy still miraculously lived.

* * *

><p><em>9...3...2...9...<em> InuYasha carefully dialed the last four digits of Kagome's number.

Why was he feeling so anxious with each dial tone? It was like... he was nervous. Was he nervous because he was about to offer Kagome the job at the clinic? No, that would be silly.

_'You want to hear her voice again.'_

_'No I don't.'_

He was having an internal argument with himself. He gulped as he heard a voice on the other side of the line, "I'm sorry the number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."

_'Oh.'_

InuYasha didn't know why but he felt disappointed when the voice on the other side was the voicemail prerecorded message and not Kagome's sweet voice.

_'Kagome's "sweet" voice? Sweet...'_

* * *

><p>Kagome picked up her vibrating cellphone and glanced at the caller ID. <em>Takahashi Cardiac.<em>

She panicked for a moment because it was probably InuYasha. What could he possibly want from her? She wanted to pick up the phone but her ego had set in.

_'InuYasha... that jerk. There's no way I'm answering his call.'_

Ignore.

That moron had offended her through and through. She wasn't a force to be trifled with and clearly he didn't understand that when he had toyed with her earlier that month.

Kagome groaned from frustration and set down her paperwork. For a brief shiny moment she thought of the possibility of InuYasha offering her the job at the clinic. No, he couldn't have; she was just having stupid thoughts. But what if he was? She hated her work right now with health care services. She was working on a project that championed free health care for those who were uninsured. But apparently the health care services only wanted the positive press and publicity. She was now spending too much time sorting through bureaucratic crap than spending time treating patients.

The compensation as director at the clinic was one eighth of her current salary but at least she would enjoy her work. She didn't know whom she should take her anger out on anymore.

Damn InuYasha. Damn stupid government. Why couldn't anyone make her life easier?

_Buzz. Buzzzz... Buzzzzzzz..._

Her phone was vibrating again. Takahashi Cardiac. Ignore.

_Buzz. Buzzzz... Buzzzzzzz..._

Takahashi Cardiac. Ignore.

_Buzz. Buzzzz... Buzzzzzzz..._

Takahashi Cardiac. Ignore.

She had a devious smirk across her face; he was obviously trying hard to reach her. Two can play this game.

* * *

><p>He wasn't stupid. The length of dial tone was decreasing each time he called; evidently, Kagome was hitting the damned ignore button on her phone.<p>

He dialed her number once more.

_'Dammit woman. Curses...'_

Immediately, the automated voice informed him, "I'm sorry the number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."

Kagome had turned off her phone. Stupid woman; why the hell was so damned stubborn?

He picked up her file and rubbed his temple in frustrations as he sprung himself in his executive chair. Kagome Higurashi... Wait, she has her home address on the letterhead. Perfect. She was playing hide and seek with him? Challenge accepted. InuYasha grabbed his coat and headed out.

When he walked by reception, Kaede was still sitting by the computer screen with her glasses and agenda.

"10:30 am... consultation with Kira Suzuki... 2:00 pm... Interview with Forbes..."

"Kaede, you're still here?" Kaede startled InuYasha; he wasn't expecting her to still be here. He glanced at his watch; it was 10:03 pm.

"InuYasha, since when do I have a life as your executive assistant?" Kaede looked up from the screen.

"Fair enough, as you were." InuYasha stepped into the elevator and pressed P4.

Kaede let out a long sigh. He was the same dog. InuYasha was still untactful as usual, what did she expect?

* * *

><p><em>Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.<em>

Kagome's head suddenly shot up from the desk; apparently she had just fallen asleep on her paperwork. She looked up at the clock. 11:13 pm. who the hell was at her door at this time of the night? She tried to think of a list of people who were this untactful in her head... Nope. She couldn't think of anyone.

In a haze, she stumbled over some things on the ground and reached for a sweater.

_Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong._

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Who the hell is this?" The unexpected visitor infuriated Kagome.

She opened the door and went silent.

"Inu... Yasha?"

Kagome blushed as she realized she was in her pajamas with her hair in a messy bun while he looked exceedingly dashing with his Burberry scarf and coat ensemble.

Was his heart going to give out? It was like looking at Kikyo. He surveyed her; she was wearing a sheer set of pajama with a sweater over her shoulders. She... wasn't wearing a bra underneath... Kagome looked... ravishing...

He felt his face growing hot and he looked away.

"I came here to apologize, Kagome... for being a jerk to you earlier," InuYasha begun hesitantly. "I want you to accept my apology and..."

InuYasha looked very uncomfortable, he was fidgeting. Dr. Takahashi did not fidget when he talked. This could only mean one thing.

"Take the job as director so I can run your clinic?" Kagome helped him finish his sentence seeing InuYasha was in searing pain trying to roll the words off of his tongue. "Sure."

InuYasha couldn't believe it, had Kagome succumbed to his sincerity? He knew it, with his dashing good looks; he could get away with anything when it came to dealing with women.

"Great... I guess I'll met you before work tomorrow and take you to the clinic?" InuYasha sounded relieved. This was too good to be true, he was finally getting this Shikon no Tama case off of his hands.

"Sure, I'll think about it." Kagome corrected him. She didn't want to seem too easy did she? Inside, she was secretly doing a happy dance and screaming for joy. She just landed her dream job! But it was important that she put up a facade to throw InuYasha off a bit. Think of it as... payback?

He was right; it was too good to be true. Hadn't he realized? If it seemed too good to be true, it probably wasn't true. Damn. He tried… he really tried.

"Will you let me know when you make up your mind?" InuYasha forced a smile on his face, maybe it'll alleviate the tension a bit?

Kagome nodded and smiled ad she leaned into her doorframe.

* * *

><p>"One shot of espresso, please and..." InuYasha was in the coffee shop across from Kagome's apartment. She had finally agreed to take the job and he was meeting her this morning to take her to work. He didn't know what Kagome would want for breakfast and paused to contemplate. "A Large hazelnut latte, unsweetened with a cinnamon roll please."<p>

It looked like something Kagome would enjoy; at least that was what Kikyo always ordered.

He turned around and almost dropped his espresso. Kikyo was sitting at a table watching him in amusement with her hand propping her chin up with her elbow on the table.

"InuYasha, I didn't know you were an unsweetened hazelnut latte and cinnamon roll sort of man," Kikyo teased him. She knew InuYasha hated sweets and fluffy things like lattes.

"It's for Kagome," InuYasha kept his voice low. He didn't want anyone to think he was crazy talking to himself in the coffee shop.

"I see you've finally found my replacement," Kikyo gestured to Kagome who had just entered the coffee shop in a sleek business casual ensemble and a tan trench coat with black kitten heels. As she opened the door of the cafe, a whirl of wind tossed her hair; Kagome flipped her hair and tightened the belt of her trench coat. Something about that gesture was so damned attractive; InuYasha's eyes were glued onto Kagome.

She smiled and walked towards the table as she caught sight of InuYasha.

"Here's your breakfast, I took the liberty of ordering it for you," InuYasha handed her the bag of cinnamon roll and the cup of latte, still gawking at her.

"How did you know this was my usual?" Kagome was delighted. Maybe InuYasha wasn't such a bad person after all. "Thanks so much! I am so excited to start today! I've already worked out a filing system, look!"

Kagome held up a series of color-coded envelops and file folders.

"Wow, she and I are so similar..." Kikyo shook her head in disbelief.

"In more ways than you can imagine," InuYasha muttered.

"Did you say something, InuYasha?" Kagome's eyebrow perked up.

He should really be careful when he's speaking to Kikyo in public.

"No... nothing..." InuYasha stood up and gestured Kagome to the door. "Let's get going shall we?"

Kikyo covered her mouth to suppress laughter. Before going out the door, InuYasha turned around to give her a playful dirty look.

* * *

><p><em>'Ugh.'<em>

He hated morning rush hours because Tokyo rush hours were nightmares. Kagome didn't seem to mind as she stood in the Shinkansen train. InuYasha felt claustrophobic as the bodies crushed into him. He could really use some air freshener, some disinfectant, and a giant bottle of hand sanitizer right now. Dammit, he had just picked up this suit from the dry cleaners last night.

Kagome watched InuYasha's series of spasms in amusement. He looked terribly disturbed by the people around him and he refused to hold the railings.

Did InuYasha have Mysophobia? It was so amusing to watch his reactions toward physical contacts with people and railings.

Usually, he was so aloof and composed but now he had a look of terror across his face and couldn't stand still.

After what seemed to be like forever, they were pushed out of the train by the crush of the multitude. It was December 4th, three more weeks until Christmas. Tokyo was in a festive spirit; everyone loved celebrating the commercial aspect of the Western holiday. Santa Claus, reindeers, mistletoes, presents, snowflakes, candy canes, eggnog... truffles!

Kagome ran a little to catch up to InuYasha and tugged the sleeves of his coat, "InuYasha? Are you a 'germophobe'?"

He paused before replying, "No? No... I'm not..."

Yeah, right. Kagome giggled as she wiped her hands repetitively on the back of InuYasha's coat.

"Muhahahahaaaa!" Kagome was acting like a little child.

Forget what he said earlier, this woman was not Kikyo. He felt shivers running in his spine as he felt Kagome's hand rubbing up and down on his back. He flinched and turned to face Kagome.

"What the hell are you doing, woman?" InuYasha 'freaked out.' All the bacteria... virus... What. The. Hell. Was this woman doing?

Kikyo would have never done this. Well, he had to be fair, she was four years his senior while Kagome was four years his junior. But what Kagome had done was to channel his inner OCD to emerge. Damn this woman, she knew how to pull his strings already.

Screw her fancy Stanford education; she was acting like a five year old.

She pouted at him like a child who knew she had done something wrong and was preparing herself to receive her punishment.

InuYasha stared at Kagome, bemused. She was kind of... cute.

* * *

><p>As soon as Kagome and InuYasha walked into the clinic, Sango Miyake and Midoriko Ito along with the staff of Shikon no Tama swore they thought they had seen Kikyo herself walk into the clinic.<p>

"Ki..kyo?"

"This is Kagome Higurashi, everyone, your new boss." InuYasha took the liberty of introducing Kagome to the clinic's staff. "She was an ER doctor and has worked with health services for the past years."

InuYasha had taken pride in Kagome, with her impressive background, hiring her made him look really good.

"I didn't let you down, did I, Sango?" InuYasha had a stupid smirk on his face.

Sango gave InuYasha a thumb up across the room and a quick wink.

"Dr. Higurashi, I'm Sango Miyake." Sango offered her hand to Kagome.

"I'm Midoriko Ito," Dr. Ito nodded. "This is Shippo our technical and information intern, Hitomiko our social worker, Shiori and Ai are our nurses."

"It's such a pleasure to meet everyone, just call me Kagome."

Now that everyone had taken a closer look at her; they were wrong because she wasn't Kikyo and neither was she like Kikyo. There was something different about her; she was like liquid sunshine, if that made sense. She seemed so approachable and everyone seemed to be soaked by her jocularity.

Good choice, InuYasha, good choice in hiring Kagome. Sango seemed to have gained more respect for InuYasha.

"Ooo Kagome, let me show you around," Shippo offered excitedly.

"That would be spectacular, thank you, Shippo-chan."

Shippo liked her already.

While Shippo, Ai and Shiori gave Kagome a tour of the Shikon no Tama, Sango came up to InuYasha.

"Thanks, InuYasha. We think Kagome is the perfect choice."

* * *

><p>Patients began filling the clinic quickly. Sango was attending to an elderly man with a stroke with Ai and Midoriko was aiding a little girl who had just broken her bone from falling out of a tree. Shiori, Shippo, and Hitomiko were entering patient files and keeping order at the reception.<p>

InuYasha was about to leave for his work at Takahashi Cardiac after making sure Kagome had settled down until a young girl came in clutching to her protruding stomach bawling in pain.

"Someone, help me! Help me!" Her piercing voice filled the room.

She looked so young... 15? 16? The little girl was in labour.

"InuYasha! Help me get her into exam room 2!" Kagome asked InuYasha, her voice was calm and commanding.

"I have a consultation in an hour," InuYasha was very unwilling to give up his 200,000-yen consultation with Kira that morning.

"InuYasha! I can't do this by myself! You'd better damn stay and help me. Now!" Kagome was infuriated, what was this moron thinking? They had a girl in labour at the clinic and he was going to go back to his fancy practice for some consultation for a little rich lady with a chronic heartache?

InuYasha shivered, Kagome's voice was so powerful. He didn't want to mess with her right now. She was probably right, it would be highly unethical to flee the scene of a medical emergency. He picked the girl up supporting her back and legs placed onto the examination table of the exam room.

"Her water has already broke, her contractions are 5 seconds apart!" Kagome was briefing InuYaha from her observations. "Shiori! Shiori! We need you in here!"

Shiori rushed in with a box of latex gloves for Kagome and InuYasha with two coveralls.

"Shiori, we need some Demerol," InuYasha instructed.

"We don't have that here at the clinic," Shiori replied.

"Morphine?"

"Certainly not."

"Fentanyl?"

"No. They all sell well on the black market," Shiori reminded him that they never stocked narcotics or medication that could make them target of robbery or black market dealers.

"Shiori, get me five towels, an ice pack and a hot water bottle," Kagome requested.

_'What was Kagome trying to do?'_

InuYasha was baffled, what did she want with the towels, hot water bottle, and ice pack? Well, obviously, she looked like she knew what she was doing.

Kagome was being practical, obviously they didn't have any painkillers that could ease her labour pain but they could do something with what they had to make her pain more tolerable.

When she had gotten the supplies she had requested, she placed two towels under the girl's back and layered the cold pack then the hot water bottle with towels.

That's right, the cold and hot press, how could he have forgotten? InuYasha was more than impressed with Kagome's quick wit and compromise.

"I see the baby's head," Kagome was really excited. "InuYasha, hold her head down! Shiori, I need a warm blanket, cord clamps, scissors, hot water, and a bulb syringe!"

Kagome was composed; it was like she had done this hundreds of times before.

"There, there... " Kagome cooed, holding the baby in her arms. "It's a girl, seven pounds and two ounces. She's healthy and just so precious."

"That was... incredible, Kagome." InuYasha was thoroughly impressed with the professionalism and skills of his new hire. Kagome was just... incredible.

Kagome smiled at him and walked out of the emergency room where Ayumi was resting.

The young mother's name was Ayumi Satome, she had just turned 16, a teenage mother.

"Ayumi, here's your baby girl," Kagome gingerly placed the little bundle in Ayumi's open arms.

The young girl looked at her baby and tears poured down her cheeks, "She's just like Souten..."

"Ayumi, is there anyone we can contact for you?" Shiori asked the young girl.

"No, I'm an orphan."

"What about the baby's father?"

Ayumi was silent.

"We'll let her have a moment with her daughter," Kagome herded InuYasha and Shiori out of the room.

* * *

><p>Kagome was sorting out the clinic's past due bills sitting in front of her desk. InuYasha had left for work at Takahashi Cardiac. He really didn't want to be around here.<p>

The clinic was in poor finances; Kikyo was passionate about helping her patients but she neglected the health of the clinic. Kagome buried her face in her sleeves, why, Kikyo? Why? At this rate, the clinic would have to be shut down because it was struggling to even pay for the utilities. Unless... she applied for the grant: there was a 20 million yen grant she could apply for to improve the clinic's finances. However, she would have to get in contact with the chair of health services, Naraku.

Oh, that's right, he was Kikyo's boyfriend; perhaps he would be keen in helping Shikon on Tama? That was a viable solution.

Kagome looked at her watch, it was 11:30 am, just in time to check on Ayumi and her baby.

She rolled out of her office chair and headed towards the examine room. The clinic wasn't too large so she was able to remember her way around.

Kagome opened the door only to find the baby on the exam table.

"Shiori! Where's Ayumi?" Kagome couldn't seem to find Ayumi anywhere. She had checked the restrooms, the reception, and everywhere around the clinic.

She had abandoned her baby.

* * *

><p>More Kagome! Yay! 2 weeks until freedom! Until then... *sobs* I'll be in the corner of the library without internet and cram for exams. Hard life! But.. that doesn't stop me from writing; it hasn't before has it? I concede. Which, brings to a totally irrelevant point: if someone likes you and they tell you that they're too busy to have a relationships; they're lying! He or she is just not that into you. How do I know this? I'm a busy person, oh believe me when I say I am. But I always find time to write because I love it so much. Meh. That's all the wise words you're going to get out of me this month.<p> 


	9. Chapter 8: The Curse of Goodhart's Law

**The Curse of Goodhart's Law**

* * *

><p>Goodhart's Law: <em>"When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."<em>

* * *

><p>"Had she mentioned anything? Anything at all?" Hitomiko was participating in the search for the missing Ayumi.<p>

"Well, when she held her daughter for the first time, she said the baby was 'just like Souten.'" Kagome recalled from her memories of the earlier event.

"Shippo, do we have any patients in our file named 'Souten'?" Hitomiko turned to Shippo with the hopes that he could find something in their database.

The chances were, if Ayumi had visited Shikon no Tama because it was close to her home then there may be a chance that the baby's father lived in the area as well. Since people living around this area weren't wealthy, Shikon was probably the only clinic they could afford to visit for any of their illnesses. Therefore, there also may have been a chance that "Souten" had come into Shikon at one point or another. Hitomiko couldn't be sure. Actually, she was just taking a wild guess and couldn't be sure at all. She was just speculating and didn't expect anything to come out of it.

"We have one Souten Yamaguchi on file. This is what he put down for home address. Apparently he lives five blocks from here. What do we want to do with it?" Shippo was lost in Hitomiko's reasoning. There were probably thousands of people with the name "Souten" in all of Tokyo and probably more in all of Japan... or the in world for that matter. How could one Souten conveniently on their file be the Souten they were looking for? That was absolutely absurd!

"I'm going to pay a visit to Souten Yamaguchi," Hitomiko announced.

"Well... it's a long shot but it's definitely worth a try," Kagome was quite supportive of Hitomiko's plan despite it might be fruitless. It was probably better than nothing right? That was the best lead they had; they needed to find Ayumi or someone to take responsibility for the newborn.

* * *

><p>Hitomiko was contemplating how she should approach Souten if he answered the door. What was she supposed to say to him? 'Hi, we're wondering if you know that you have fathered a child who was abandoned at the clinic this morning?' That would be awkward; besides, this was a really, really stupid thing for her to do. The chances of this being the right Souten was probably one in a million, quite literally.<p>

Knock... Knock... Knock... Hitomiko knocked three times on the door and tried again when there had been no answer. What was she doing? She should probably return to the clinic. There were so many patient files she needed to attend to with Shippo. She was wasting her time here pursuing the father of the child over some silly assumption she had made earlier. There was no one home; Hitomiko started to descend the stairs when the door creaked open and a mid aged woman stepped out of the door.

"What do you want?" the woman seemed bitter and angry when she answered the door.

"Greetings madam, I'm Hitomiko, the social worker from Shikon no Tama. I'm wondering if you know a Souten Yamaguchi and perhaps Ayumi Satome?"

It was probably a long shot. If the woman replied with a simple no, they would both be on their way and go about their day's tasks; however nothing was ever that simple.

* * *

><p>InuYasha looked up to the ceiling and brought his hands to his temple. He couldn't seem to concentrate at all. His thoughts were scattered everywhere and he wasn't even coherent. In fact, he seemed to have struggled at the most trivial tasks for the past two hours. One thing seemed to be on his mind all day, 'How was Kagome doing at Shikon?' He wondered. Wait. Hold on there... What? Why the hell was he thinking about Kagome? Who cared about how she was? He could care less about that woman, right? He was just showing concern for a fellow doctor and nothing else, he reassured himself. But why was he so restless?<p>

_'No, InuYasha, no. You could care less about Kagome.'_

But ever since he came into work this morning after leaving Shikon no Tama, he felt oddly empty inside without her around him. With the thoughts of Kagome, he couldn't help but to feel the urge to smile a little while sitting in his office at Takahashi Cardiac. It was something that had never happened to him. He was beginning to feel a little bit childish and foolish because he was smiling ear to ear. Her spontaneous questions and childish like behavior were really zany; he really enjoyed her quirkiness. She was almost too... cute. Almost? She was downright adorable.

Then there was a composed and professional side to her. The way she handled herself and her staff during her first task on her first day at work was impressive. Heck, InuYasha was more than impressed; he had never seen someone remaining so calm when treating a patient in such an emergency situation with so little resources around.

Beyond his professional admiration, maybe InuYasha had a little crush on the new director. There was something about Kagome that was so alluring to him... her smile, eyes, glossy tresses... her voice, her lips, her curves, her scent...

Keh, that was probably because she resembled Kikyo... or was it? He had found that other than the slight facial resemblance, Kagome was a one of a kind woman and she was quite different from Kikyo. Kikyo was brilliant; she had many admirable qualities to her but Kagome? Kagome not only was brilliant, humorous, beautiful, spirited, she also had a very particular aura around her he couldn't put his finger on... and she was so sexy with those long legs... long legs... InuYasha wandered for a moment how those legs would be like when straddled around his waist... oh those curves... those curves are just begging for him to run his hand over them... Yum.

InuYasha felt himself stirring uncomfortably. What the hell was he thinking? He couldn't afford to know Kagome a bit better; with her new job she'd be like another Kikyo. She was probably the type of woman to put work over family life. InuYasha was being a hypocrite because when it came to work and life balance, he border lined extreme workaholic and no-life.

Don't get him wrong, he did love Kikyo, but her preachiness in devoting her life to the less fortunate people drove him insane. InuYasha laughed and shook his head. Oh the irony... They met because Kagome wanted to follow in Kikyo's footsteps to run the Shikon no Tama and he was also the one who had been more than willing to hire her. Now, he's having all these erotic thoughts about her but he refused to go and pursue her because he was afraid she was too much like Kikyo. Was he afraid? He wasn't afraid; he was just being very, very logical. Only an idiot would go for the same type of woman twice and expect a different result.

InuYasha's golden eyes were infused with confusion and distress, he loosened his tie because he felt strangled; he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. He should distract himself with some work and reached for the patient files. He didn't want anything to do Kagome mainly because then he would have to be associated with Shikon no Tama, the free clinic. He was too good for the clinic. He knew he was poking at a taboo - he was a doctor, he should never distinguish the sick by their wealth.

_'Patient files... patient files...'_ He had brought them to work this morning; they were supposed to be there among his other pa-

Oh.

He had left them at Shikon no Tama, in Kagome's office.

Was fate trying to toy with him? He was led back to the Shikon no Tama over and over again... No, fate wasn't but his stupidity was. He wanted to bash his face onto his desk until he saw blood gushing out of it; that was a more physical description of what he was feeling at this moment.

Okay, here's the deal: he was going to go in and out of the clinic just to pick up his files. No matter whatever happened, he would bolt out those doors and go about his day without being tangled in any of Shikon no Tama's affairs. He was going to make no exceptions.

* * *

><p>"Kagome?" Sango rushed into Kagome's office cradling the baby in her arms with a worried look on her face. "Ayumi's back."<p>

"She's back? Good. I need to speak with that girl."

Finally, that little girl came into some senses. She should have known better than to abandon her baby like that. Kagome was going to give that child a serious lecture. It was about time she began to take responsibilities for her actions. A child wasn't just a thing you could abandon and then decide that you wanted it back. A child was a child: an asset and a liability.

"The lecture can wait... I think she's in a lot of pain. You should go take a look, Kagome."

* * *

><p>Hitomiko sat in Mrs. Satome's couch as she surveyed the room. She felt like she had travelled in a time machine and went back fifty years. The couch was the only piece of modern furniture in the apartment. There were no televisions, radios, or any modern appliances. The room had a simple futon, a modern Chinese ping feng folding screen that was popular in Japan back in the 1960s, and a short tea table. She watched attentively as Mrs. Satome poured some hot water into a teapot.<p>

"She ran away with that no good Souten," Mrs. Satome broke the silence. "I haven't seen her since."

"Did you know she was pregnant?" Hitomiko accepted an empty teacup from Mrs. Satome.

The middle aged woman paused before pouring the tea into Hitomiko's cup.

"Oh, was she? What a dishonorable girl, I don't have a daughter such as her."

"She just gave birth this morning at the clinic Shikon no Tama, you should really go see her," Hitomiko suggested.

"No. I will not. I've severed all of my ties from her."

"Mrs. Satome, I think your daughter needs you more than ever right now," Hitomiko pleaded to the older woman. Surely her motherly instinct would take over at some point.

"I don't have a slut for a daughter and I certainly do not need to accept a bastard child in to the family. I must ask you to leave now."

So her effort was fruitless. This woman was unable to be persuaded at all. Neither she nor the older woman had anything else to say to each other. Hitomiko got up and showed herself to the front door; her tea was untouched.

* * *

><p>"Ayumi, I'm going to give you something to contract your uterus and to stop your vaginal bleeding. I will be right back," Kagome informed the young girl.<p>

Ayumi nodded at Kagome's words and lied on the examination table obediently. She was beginning to regret her decision of leaving her baby in the clinic earlier. Doctor Higurashi had probably thought of her as a terrible mother.

Ayumi's placenta had already shed so it was probably more prudent to use medication to target her vaginal bleeding; the contractions should subside on their own soon. Kagome was thinking very hard to decide which medication to administer to Ayumi.

"Sango-chan, do we have syntocinon and or ergometrine?" Kagome asked Sango because she was unfamiliar with the medical supplies that were available at the clinic. It was understandable because it was Kagome's first day on the job.

"We should... if not, I know we have pitocin for sure. You should be able to find it just in the room on the left, Kagome."

Sango adored Kagome and although she hated to admit it; Kagome was even more proficient than Kikyo. This woman knew her stuff, perhaps that was the difference between a family physician and an ER doctor.

"How the heck am I supposed to find anything around here?" Kagome muttered to herself. The medication storage was in a complete mess. She was going to do something about it as soon as she could pay all of the bills for the clinic. "Pitocin... this will do I guess."

"Hey Kagome," InuYasha greeted her as he walked by the room.

"Hi InuYasha," Kagome greeted him back and went back to reading the fading labels to double check if they had syntocinon or egometrine before administering pitocin to Ayumi because the other two medications were more effective. Kagome suddenly stopped to process the situation. InuYasha... wait a minute... why was InuYasha here?

* * *

><p>"InuYasha!" Kagome called his name before he could exit the clinic.<p>

Upon hearing his voice, InuYasha knew the more prudent plan of action was to just walk out the door and pretend that he never heard Kagome. He wanted to slap himself. It was supposed to be a simple in and out process; why did he have to have such a big mouth and said "hi" to Kagome?

"Doctor Takahashi, Doctor Higurashi! There's something terribly wrong with Ayumi! You have to come and take a look at her!" Ai sped out of the exam room and cried for InuYasha and Kagome.

InuYasha groused. It seemed like he always came at the most opportune moment. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. From the urgency in Ai's voice, his afternoon plans may have to be cancelled. Dammit. Karma, the deities, fate, or whatever supernatural power above must be playing a cruel joke on him. It seemed that there would always be something wrong that required his assistance whenever he came by Shikon no Tama. Dammit.

He should just walk away from this, who cared if they thought of him as a jerk afterwards. He had found the clinic a new director; his work was done, right? Why would he feel guilty? Kagome could definitely handle the situation; she was a Stanford med school ER grad for heaven's sake. That woman could handle it.

If he hadn't stupidly forgotten his files at Shikon no Tama, he probably would have never had to return to the clinic ever again. He had to leave; he couldn't stay. He didn't want to know what was happening to Ayumi or did he? Could his conscious rest if he knew that Ayumi would have died without his assistance? Yes, it could. It wouldn't bother him. There were three professionals there: Kagome, Midoriko, and Sango. Having him there or not, it wouldn't make a difference. He halted for another moment; should he stay to get entangled in the unnecessary mess of this free clinic or should he go back to his exclusive practice?

"InuYasha!"

"Doctor Takahashi!"

All of the patients in the reception were staring at him. He was lingering for too long. InuYasha didn't bother to look back. He chose to leave despite Ai and Kagome crying out his name. He was done with Shikon no Tama.

* * *

><p>'Dammit.'<p>

He had no freaking idea what had just happened to him.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!" InuYasha banged his hand on the steering wheel of his Spyder that was parked a block from Shikon no Tama.

He hadn't been able to process what had just occurred; but now, he can't seem to drive away. As a doctor, he had never just left a patient there to suffer... but this was different, right? Kagome was there to help Ayumi...

Why did he suddenly have the urge to leave, to get away from the scene? Why couldn't he have stayed? He hit his head against the rim of the steering wheel, hard.

"Why aren't you there helping Ayumi?" Kikyo's voice was cold and accusing; she wasn't impressed with InuYasha's behavior at the least.

"What the hell do you want, Kikyo?" InuYasha was irked by Kikyo's stern tone in questioning him; she sounded like she was pushing a criminal to a confession.

InuYasha turned his head to his left to see Kikyo seated in the passenger seat. He couldn't bring his eyes to meet hers.

"InuYasha, you're scared aren't you?"

"Who are you kidding with, Kikyo?" He, InuYasha Takahashi, was scared? Of what? He was fearless; there was nothing he was afraid of.

"You've made this perfect bubble that you've put yourself in. You are so scared if things aren't going your way."

"No, I'm not. What goes on in the clinic is not my problem!"

Kikyo was right; he had a perfect bubble around himself. He had the best of everything growing up in high society and a trust fund large enough that he didn't have to work a single day in his life. But since he chose his path as a doctor, he was educated at one of the best medical schools in the world and owned the most technologically advanced practice in all of Asia. Everything went his way; he had it under control all the time. Shikon no Tama was the epitome of everything he had loathed.

"You're running away. You're afraid!" Kikyo bluntly stated.

Was he afraid? He hated to admit it. Never in his life had he been so unsure of... anything. He couldn't envision a future of himself with Shikon no Tama in his mind.

He knew he had to confront it, "Yeah, maybe I am."

InuYasha laughed at himself and shook his head.

"So what are you going to do, InuYasha? Are you going to run away? Abandon the clinic like you abandoned me?"

"I..." InuYasha was lost for words. Had he abandoned Kikyo? He did though, didn't he? "Kikyo... I..."

When InuYasha looked up to justify himself but Kikyo was gone.

* * *

><p>He needed to make amends to everyone for running off like that. InuYasha hurriedly approached his trunk and took out his omnipotent case of medications, which contained doses of morphine, ergometrine, oxytocin, misoprostol, and other assorted tranquilizers and painkillers.<p>

Since when did one block seem so far?

"Kagome! Ai! Shiori!" InuYasha yelled for Kagome and the nurses when he stormed into the clinic.

"Doctor Takahashi, Kagome is in the trauma room with Ayumi!" Shiori ran out to inform InuYasha as she heard his voice. "You will have to scrub off before going in, Ayumi is having postpartum hemorrhaging and Kagome is going to perform the surgery."

Dammit.

InuYasha took off his blazer, covered his leather shoes with covers and began scrubbing his hands meticulously through and through with soap. He got the soap under his fingernails and between his fingers. With the assistance of Shiori who braded his long silver hair back and tied his coverall, InuYasha put on his latex gloves and elevated his hands to push open the trauma room's doors with his thigh. He was very particular about hygiene in the clinic to avoid post surgical infections.

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

"Kagome..." InuYasha had been mentally preparing himself to face Kagome as he was scrubbing. He was afraid of Kagome's rage; he braced himself but after a while, her wrath never came.

Kagome took a quick glance at him. Even though her face was half covered with the surgical mask, he could see her anger piercing through from her eyes. He was going to say something before Kagome began briefing him.

"She is burning with fever, and the pitocin is having no effect on the hemorrhage. She has a Abruptio Placentae."

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Ayumi's stats were going off the charts as a result of her hypotension.

"We have to have a hysterectomy to remove the uterus!" InuYasha exclaimed. "There's no time!"

"There must be another way!" Kagome cried in protest to InuYasha's suggestion.

"If the pitocin had no effect, neither will ergometrine that I have! If we don't stop this now, she'll bleed to death! You don't have any blood supply on hand!" InuYasha couldn't think of any other choice. There really was none.

"InuYasha! She's barely 16! What if she wants to have children of her own later on in life when she gets married!"

Kagome couldn't stand InuYasha's compulsion. Did he ever stand back to think for his patients? Ayumi deserved to find a true love later in her life and start a happy family. What she had at 15 was probably as naive as it was fleeting. Kagome didn't feel Ayumi needed to pay with her femininity.

"Kagome, now!" InuYasha was impatient and frustrated. Ayumi was losing too much blood too quickly.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Kagome was still cool and composed, 'Think Kagome... Think...'

Then it struck her.

"Pelvic artery embolization," Kagome had thought of it. Perfect.

"What?" InuYasha's eyebrow perked up, trying to recall the procedure from his memory.

"Pelvic artery embolization, it preserves the uterus and fertility."

"Can you find the femoral artery?" InuYasha asked Kagome. He didn't doubt she had the skills to do so but she probably hadn't done it for a very, very long while.

"I haven't done it since ten years ago in residency... but it's worth a try because at this point Ayumi has nothing to lose," Kagome gravitated towards Ayumi's thighs and ran her fingers along her upper thighs until she found the approximate location of the artery.

"Scalpel," she commanded InuYasha.

InuYasha wasn't used to being ordered around in the surgical room because he was always the one making the commands. Well, at least he was always until now. Kagome was the chief surgeon now.

"Forceps," Kagome requested the instrument from him.

_'Um...'_ InuYasha couldn't identify the instrument fast enough. Honestly, they all looked the same to him at the moment. _'Long silver tool... long silver tool...'_ It took him longer than expected to hand her the instrument. This job was more demanding than he had imagined it to be. Now he felt slightly awful for being so harsh on his staff during his operations. Oh how the table has turned on him.

"InuYasha I can't find it," for the first time, Kagome's voice sounded like she was shaken by the situation. More precisely, she sounded afraid; she was longer full of confidence as usual.

"Yes you can, just follow the external iliac artery, Kagome."

"InuYasha, I need your help. Please?"

It was odd to see Kagome so vulnerable because she seemed to be so sure of herself all the time. He was a heart surgeon; he was proficient in finding any artery. He knew the location of every artery in the body. He could help her; she was requesting him for his specialty. He stepped behind Kagome and took her right hand with his and held her wrist with his hand.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Something happened at that moment, something electrifying.

_'Thud. Thud. Thud.'_ He could feel Kagome's pulse fasten when he gripped her wrists. Feeling her hand in his, InuYasha felt a sudden adrenaline rush. Her body had fit perfectly in his embrace. Nothing could be more perfect. She was at his perfect height; they were as compatible as puzzle pieces were. Her back was firmly pressed against his chest. His chin rested on Kagome's right shoulder. He could breathe in her sweet scent even through the surgical mask over his face. Her scent was just so potent to him. It was almost intoxicating. InuYasha forced himself to keep his focus and his head clear. Ayumi's life was in his hands.

He traced the external iliac artery with his hand over Kagome's; the connection between the femoral artery should be at the femoral triangle behind the inguinal ligament near the head of the femur bone... 'right here.'

He had a strange feeling in his stomach. It was churning. There were butterflies in his stomach. He had never had this feeling before, not even when around Kikyo. His breath deepened but he tried his hardest to breathe quietly because his face was next to Kagome's. She could hear him perfectly well.

He made a small incision around the artery and reached in the flesh with the forceps.

"Lets tie this to stop the bleeding," InuYasha held Kagome's hand and gingerly flicked her wrist to secure the artery. "You got it, Kagome?"

Kagome clipped the hemostat on the thin blood vessel.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

"She's stabilizing," Kagome whispered. "InuYasha... she's stabilizing, she's stopped hemorrhaging."

InuYasha let out a small chuckle and pressed his face against Kagome's, "You did it, Kagome."

Pelvic artery embolization? This woman was brilliant. It made him feel somewhat incompetent when he thought of the procedure he had performed on Rin. Although he knew Rin was definitely not going to have any more children for certain, he still had to give her a hysterectomy to save her life. But Kagome? She had compassion for Ayumi, her patient. She was able to preserve her uterus and life all at the same time.

Kagome felt her face heating up with InuYasha so close to her.

"InuYasha? We can close her now," Kagome tried to break their distance by winnowing her wrists from his.

* * *

><p>Sango was going to stay overnight to observe Ayumi because she probably needed a doctor there just in case of an emergency.<p>

"Good night, Midoriko!" Sango waved to her as she stepped out of the door and turned to InuYasha and Kagome.

"Alright guys, Ai, Shiori, Shippo, and Midoriko already left. I'm going to check on Ayumi now, good work today." With that, Sango stepped into the back with a big grin on her face, leaving Kagome and InuYasha alone in the reception area.

In the surgery room today, he felt something he had never felt with any other woman, not even with Kikyo. What he had towards Kagome was so much more. His suspicious were confirmed. When their bodies touched it was almost like a chemical reaction. He felt something he had never experienced with anyone before. Could it be that she was the one for him? InuYasha had never been someone who believed in trivial things such as fate, the one, or destiny. But with Kagome... it was different. Completely different from any others.

Perhaps she had felt it too? Surely she must have had; she probably had also felt the same electricity like pulses running through her veins as he held her during the operation.

The way their bodies fitted perfectly fine with each other's was just magical.

It was late and neither of them had eaten dinner yet since it was so busy even post surgery at the clinic. InuYasha was going to do something he had never imagined himself would do.

"Hey Kagome, do you want to have dinner together or maybe grab a drink or two?"

His question seemed to have taken Kagome in by surprise; her chocolate eyes suddenly met his. She had an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry InuYasha, I would love to but my husband is coming home later tonight. His plane lands at midnight so I think I'm going to go home to make him a snack."

If he were less of a man than he was, he would have bawl right now. Kagome... was married?

"I don't really wear a ring at work, you know, the whole hand washing?" Kagome held out her left hand to show him her bare ring finger.

That sudden feeling he had was even worse than a smack across his head. What the hell was wrong with him? He had fallen for a taken woman. Damn. InuYasha felt lament and silly. Silly wasn't even the right word. He just felt stupid. He had been so distracted by Kagome; heck, he had so many fantasies about her throughout the day and she... was married?

"Oh, ha, sure... Good work today..." InuYasha felt awkward and wanted to slap himself. Kagome was a married woman.

Dammit.

He had no idea.

_At all._

Before he could say anything, Kagome began, "InuYasha? I have a favor to ask of you."

His ears perked up, what could Kagome possibly want from him at this point? He should get his dirty mind out of the gutter or he was going to lead himself to a grand disappointment.

"You know how we're understaffed here and I can't afford to hire another doctor? I'm wondering if you can give me 30 hours a week?"

30 hours? Who did this woman think he was? For heaven's sake he didn't even do more than 6 hours of continuous consultation a day at his own practice. InuYasha really, really wanted to reject Kagome and just walk out of the clinic. But given the previous question he posed for her, he might appear as an ass if he just rejected her on the spot. She might mistaken his rejection as his inability to accept her rejection because she was married... It's... complicated. He probably wasn't making any sense currently. It was a sticky situation and he knew it.

"10 hours," InuYasha replied to Kagome's request and kept a poker face. He was a master negotiator; the challenge was on. He was going to get his way with fewer hours.

"20 hours," Kagome responded, trying to make a concession with the cardiac surgeon.

"15 hours," that was his final offer. No more than 15 hours or he would walk out from there.

"Done!" A bright smile flashed across her face. Her smile was brilliant. Kagome had never looked more radiant that she did now. She was the lucky winner in this situation.

"I get to pick my own schedule," InuYasha reminded her before Kagome had any other crazy plans for him. For all he knew, Kagome could be convincing him to take a night shift or something. He shivered at the thought of night shifts at the Shikon no Tama.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow!" Kagome twirled about the reception and gave a wave before stepping out, leaving a very baffled InuYasha to wonder what the hell had just happened to him.

* * *

><p>Kagome's married? Oh no! The terror! *PANIC*<p>

It's okay guys, it's okay, really. It's an InuYasha and Kagome romance fiction. You're all in good hands! I reassure you once again!


	10. Chapter 9: A Little Bit of Keynes's Law

**A Little Bit of Keynes's Law**

* * *

><p>Keynes's Law:<em> "Demand creates its own supply."<em>

* * *

><p>"Hi-yah!"<p>

With a swift movement, he brought the samurai sword to attack his opponent from the right only to be stopped by the offensive slant of his sword. The two steel blades collided and the swords met edges to edges and hilt to hilt, refusing to yield to the other.

Who knew the handsome surgeon was also a strong samurai?

The sleeves of his hitatare fluttered with each of his swift movements. The natural light shone through the windows of the studio where the two men were engaged in their affair, illuminating the family crests on their breastplates. _Takahashi. Kouki._

"Is that the best you've got, InuYasha?"

"Don't underestimate me or Tetsusaiga, Miroku!"

"Hyah!"

Drips of sweat dripped from his forehead, trailing down his neck and drenching his black kimono. He brought his sleeve up to wipe away the sweat that was blurring his vision. He took a leap backwards, dodging Miroku's katana. The blade sliced down by his face; strands of his silvery hair fell to the ground.

"Aren't you so lucky, Takahashi?" Miroku smirked at his slight victory.

"Now it's my, turn, Kouki!"

"Eeee-yah!" InuYasha clenched the tsuka with his two hands and put his entire body's force to slice down at Miroku only to be stopped by the tsuba before the hilt of Miroku's katana.

InuYasha and Miroku were shoulder to shoulder. Their swords were intertwined and neither man could free himself.

"You're slipping, InuYasha. You're distracted." Miroku leaned into InuYasha to take a closer observation of him and widdened his eyes in disbelief.

"Shut up, Miroku!" InuYasha was irked by Miroku's remark. He was never distracted, ever, until now.

"Something's on your mind, want to talk about it?" Miroku gave InuYasha a genuine look of concern. He has known InuYasha for over 32 years and his katana has never come so close to InuYasha's face like it did a moment ago. Obviously InuYasha's mind wasn't on the match anymore but on something else... or someone else.

But then how could it be on someone else? Even at the time his engagement with Kikyo was in turmoil, InuYasha had never lost focus in a katana match.

"What's this, you're 'shrinking' me now?" The half-demon raised his sleeves to wipe away the sweat that covered his forehead, still in a combative stance.

"Well, that's what I do for a living," The clean-cut man smirked as he sheathed his katana in its saya. "Well, lunch break is over, I need to go back to Tokyo Memorial now. You, my friend can keep at it in denial."

InuYasha rolled his eyes at Miroku's sarcasm.

"Oi, Miroku," InuYasha raised his right hand and caught Miroku's left shoulder from behind. "How would you like to consult for Takahashi Cardiac instead."

Miroku turned around to face InuYasha, "Interesting, I've never thought I'd be working for my buddy." He brought his hand to rub his chin as if he was deep in ponder but he had already made up his mind.

"You know you've always wanted to but you were just never man enough to ask," InuYasha cackled. Miroku was a "freelance psychiatrist and neuroscience specialist." He had never owned his own practice but instead, he frequented hospitals and clinics as their specialist. He was in need of a new psychiatrist at Takahashi Cardiac and he thought, who was better for the job than Miroku Kouki?

"I'll drop by your place later tonight," Miroku waved at InuYasha while walking to the change room.

"You do that, Kouki."

InuYasha glanced at the time, 1:33 pm.

Time for work... at Shikon no Tama.

It was a Friday afternoon and he didn't have any more scheduled meetings, consultations, or surgeries for the rest of the day so he was going to go for his shift at the Sanya clinic.

* * *

><p>"InuYasha! You're here!" Shippo looked up from the computer screen at the reception, his face brightened at the sight of InuYasha. He was buried in a stack of patient files.<p>

"Hey, Shippo," InuYasha winnowed himself through the room of patients. The clinic looked busy for a Friday afternoon. So much for an early start to the weekends, this didn't look like it was going to be a stroll in the park. InuYasha's ears dropped at the though of working late tonight. Ah well, Miroku can wait longer.

"InuYasha!"

InuYasha's ears perked up upon hearing the endearing familiar voice.

"Kagome..." InuYasha smiled at the sight of the young woman. He gulped hard and took a deep breath. It was his first time seeing her since last week. It was funny, he knew she was married but that didn't stop him from thinking of her. He was better than this; he wasn't the man to covet a taken woman when he knew he could sweep any too willing woman off of her feet with a single glance. Oh the things Kagome did to him.

Dammit, but there was something just so damn alluring about Kagome. He thought he was ready to face her, but as soon as she looked like she was going to say something to him, his hands grew clammy and he was lost for words. He felt this heart thumping against his ribcage. Was it so hot in the clinic? When did it get so hot? It was so sudden... ah... dammit.

_'Dammit. Dammit, Kagome. InuYasha... discipline yourself.'_

He needed a moment to compose himself; where should he run to? Eh... ahh... Kagome was walking towards him... Where to? Where to?

"InuYasha, here's the patient file, you can start by ruling out yellow fever and malaria," Kagome handed him the file folder and gave him a wink. A wink. What the hell was that? Did she just give him a wink?

Damn that woman; why did she have to give him a wink? It was probably an innocent little wink that she gave to everyone. But still, that was really, really misleading. Drat. Damn. Darn. Darn. Gah. Oh the things she did to him that she didn't even realize.

_'You have no idea what you're doing to me, Kagome.'_

InuYasha watched Kagome disappear in the back of the clinic. He flipped through the file and gave a long sigh before going into the exam room.

* * *

><p>"How are you doing, Ayumi?" Kagome came into the room where Ayumi was up and packing. "Where are you going to go now with your baby girl?"<p>

The young girl gave a long pause before answering, "I've arranged with Hitomiko to give my baby to a better home."

Kagome gave Ayumi a sympathetic smile. This little girl was making a good decision for her and her daughter. Kagome was so proud of her.

"It's probably for the best, Ayumi-chan."

"I'm staying with a distant cousin. Then I want to finish high school, go into university, and make something of myself. I want to go to med school just like you, Kagome-san."

Kagome had not expected such an ambitious answer from the little girl. She truly admired her courage to pick herself up again after being abandoned by her lover and family.

"I wish you the best of luck," Kagome Ayumi a long, maternal hug.

"Can I still come and visit you?"

"Of course, Ayumi-chan. Anytime you'd like."

When she let go of Ayumi, Kagome was in vertigo and suddenly felt the room spinning around her. Her knees buckled and her limbs felt numb. She tried her best to gain control of her legs but they didn't seem to belong to her anymore. She thought she was going to hit her head before Ayumi caught her.

"Kagome-san! Are you alright?"

She heard her calling her name... _'Kagome... That's me...'_

Kagome groaned and supported herself by holding onto the railing of the bedpost. She seemed to just have had an out of body experience... For a moment she didn't feel like herself. Her vision went blurry for a while but now she could see more lucidly.

"I'm... alright, just tired..." Kagome reassured Ayumi. "I'm alright... really."

* * *

><p>"You don't need to remove the stitches, they'll take care of themselves. Avoid any extreme exercises in the meanwhile, all right? Don't move around too much."<p>

InuYasha gingerly patched a bandage on the little girl's shoulder.

"Alright, I'm just going to give you a few tablets of antibiotics for the cut, alright? I'll be right back."

InuYasha had been attending to patient after patients for the past four hours. The situations included a high fever, a broken wrist, some minor burns, and now, the little girl who fell off the ladder trying to help her father hang blessing charms in the family shrine. She was unfortunate that the glass ornament she had in her hands shattered and the broken shards stabbed into her shoulder. But at the same time, luckily it was just her shoulder and nothing vital.

InuYasha's mouth dropped when he opened the room of the medicine storage. Perhaps he had walked into the wrong room, or rather, the wrong clinic. He was bracing himself for fallen objects from the top shelves but instead the room was immaculate and orderly. Everything even had labels. Damn.

"I see you've discovered Kagome's masterpiece," Sango strolled in and grabbed a bottle of aspirin from under the labeled shelf.

Incredible... Again, this woman made miracles happen. 'When will Kagome cease to amaze me?'

"You should see what she did to the trauma room too!" Sango added while walking out of the medicine storage.

This was getting too much. He didn't even want to find out what Kagome did to the trauma room because he knew that it would blow his mind... as if she hadn't done that many times already.

"Oh, don't forget to check out our new filing system in the office," Midoriko informed InuYasha while she came in to grab a bag of bandages.

Damn. The wonders Kagome could do.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed the fresh layer of paint in the clinic, Doctor Takahashi," Ai curiously asked InuYasha as she walked by the medicine storage room.

"Kagome even has a new filing system set up for me," Shippo shouted all the way from the reception desk. "Would you like to see it, Doctor Takahashi?"

No, he didn't, but he did now.

"This is incredible, InuYasha... Was this the old medicine room?" Kikyo was astonished at Kagome's work. "Amazing... This room looks ten times larger than it was... I had no idea that there was so much space. Amazing."

InuYasha was startled by Kikyo's sudden appearance, "Would you stop doing that, Kikyo?"

InuYasha walked to the door to shut it before anyone realized he was talking to "himself." Although he was conversing with Kikyo but he seemed to be the only person who could see or hear her. Anyone walking by would think that he was talking to himself and think he was going mad.

"Yeah... this was... have you seen the paint?" InuYasha gave Kikyo a grin.

He was going to say something else before he heard Kagome's voice on the other side of the door, "Tell InuYasha I've dressed Chiko-chan's shoulder with the bandages already!"

The door opened and Kagome was startled to see InuYasha standing in the medicine room. She had taken him by surprise too. He didn't know what to do so he just gave her his usual smirk. It was one of those smirks again.

She felt her stomach churn with butterflies. Darn the adrenaline. InuYasha's silky silver hair draped over his shoulders, framing his perfect jawline. The light lavender colored dress shirt he had worn under his white coat brought out the golden tints in his eyes. There was a yin, feminine elongation to his features but at the same time, his broad shoulders and hard abs that she had felt the other day against her back screamed sexy hunk. Hard abs... against her back, so close to her le...

"Here's my darling!" An unfamiliar man barged into the storage room and grabbed Kagome's waist from the behind possessively while scooping her into his embrace. InuYasha let out a deep growl at the way the man touched his Kagome.

Wait, since was she his Kagome?

No, she wasn't his.

She was _his._

"This is my husband, Hojo Ikeda," Kagome began as she shifted uncomfortably out of Hojo's arms, she as embarrassed of Hojo's intimacy with her in public. She wasn't a fan of public displays of affections, especially not at her work. Kagome liked to keep her professional life less personal.

Kikyo noticed Kagome's subtle gesture and frowned. It seemed like she picked up something much more from Kagome's uncomfortable stir, something even Kagome herself might not have noticed.

"Hi, you must be Doctor Takahashi, call me Hojo." Hojo approached InuYasha boldly and shook his hand firmly.

Hojo was dressed smartly in a crisp tailored Italian suit; he looked like he meant business.

"I've heard that your proposal to fund your own clinical research for atrial fibrillation was rejected by your investors," Hojo gave InuYasha a taunting look.

InuYasha flinched. How did Hojo know about this? He cringed and felt a sudden wave of hostility overwhelming him. Now he's got more than one reason to dislike this Hojo. He was just such a stuck-up. That stupid grin on his face was just irritating. He wanted to go forth to slap it off. How could this type of guy get a woman like Kagome? What did she see in him?

Hojo noticed InuYasha's discomfort and leered, "But I'm willing to invest in it, if you cut me a proper share. 70-30? 80-20? How's 90-10?"

InuYasha wasn't surprised by his offer. Yes, he was desperate, but he wasn't _that_ desperate. He knew that accepting Hojo's offer would be like selling his soul to the devil itself. Hojo was proposing an audacious 90% cut. What did he take InuYasha for? A teaching assistant to a research professor? He was a certified heart surgeon with two post-doctorate degrees. Screw Hojo.

"I can manage my own research funding, thank you but no thanks." InuYasha's tone was antagonistic and full of rage.

It seemed like Hojo had gotten the hint. He turned his attention to his alluring wife, "Honey, we're late for our reservations."

"Oh? What's the occasion?" Sango was curious at the sight of Hojo and cut in to join the conversation.

"You guys don't know? It's to celebrate Kagome's birthday," Hojo turned to Kagome. "I've booked the entire Ginza Kyuubeifor for you dear, we shouldn't miss the reservation."

Sango's mouth dropped, Ginza Kyuubei? As in t-h-e Ginza Kyuubei, the most reputable sushi restaurant in Japan? Hojo booked it for the night Hojo Ikeda... Wait, the Hojo Ikeda? Her clinic director, Kagome Higurashi was married to the Hojo Ikeda?

InuYasha shifted uncomfortably at Hojo's purposefully ostentatious remark. He was such a pretentious man.

"Yeah, sure... I'm just going to pack my things, why don't you wait for me outside?" Kagome gave Hojo a week smile and looked down to her feet.

Before leaving her, he grabbed Kagome's chin forcefully with the intention of kissing her lips. InuYasha looked away uncomfortably; he didn't want to watch Kagome kissing another man. Instead of letting her husband take her lips, Kagome shifted her stance and clenched his shoulders. Hojo had missed her lips and planted the quick peck on her left cheek.

He didn't think much of it. In fact, Hojo laughed at his wife's quirk and shook his head; before walking away to wait for her outside he looked at her longingly and uttered, "Don't be too long, Mrs. Ikeda... I love you."

Kagome let out a nervous and flustered, "Yeah, me too..."

She turned her attention away from Hojo and looked yearningly at InuYasha. Kagome was still red and embarrassed from the situation at hand. What a predicament.

"I guess I'll see you later?" She asked.

"Sure... um... Happy birthday, Kagome."

She let out a genuine smile, nodded at him, stepped out of the medicine storage room and headed for her office to collect her things.

"She's not happy, InuYasha." Kikyo spoke. "But the sadder thing is, she hasn't internalized it yet. She doesn't consciously know it. She's forcing herself to be happy."

"... What do you mean, Kikyo? Look at her, she's perfectly happy with..." He wanted to call him by something a bit less polite before he continued to finish his sentence. "... With... Hojo."

"You didn't see it, did you?" Kikyo watched InuYasha curiously.

He just stared at her.

She continued, "The way she turned her face when he had kissed her... The quick 'me too'... She can't even say the simple three words to him. Don't tell me you didn't see any of that."

InuYasha stared at Kikyo blankly.

Kikyo cringed at InuYasha's obliviousness and brought her hands to her temple.

* * *

><p>"So this girl, what's her name?" Miroku asked before taking a sip of his whiskey.<p>

"Keh... what do you mean 'what's her name'?" InuYasha reclined onto his sofa and a flash of Kagome's face appeared in his head. He couldn't help but to smile ear to ear.

"You're avoiding my question... and you're smiling like an idiot, so there is someone." Miroku sniggered. That was definitely it, InuYasha was trying hard to make him drop the subject so he must have been having problem with a girl.

"Kagome. Her name is Kagome Higurashi. She's an ER. She's married."

The alcohol must have gotten to him; he was spilling everything to Miroku.

"Hot dayumn InuYasha, messing around with a married woman? I never thought that you were the type." Miroku had a stupid grin on his face. InuYasha was no saint but Miroku didn't know he would go that far.

"No you moron. We're not messing around."

"Or are you?"

"No. She loves her husband."

* * *

><p>"Honey, why aren't you wearing your ring?" Hojo was infuriated upon seeing Kagome's bare ring finger. "Is the diamond not big enough?"<p>

The gorgeous 8-carat Tiffany's Louis XIV marquise ring was more than enough. In fact, she thought that it was too much.

"Hojo, the ring isn't exactly appropriate for me to wear at work," Kagome tried to explain herself with an apologetic frown. It was too flashy.

"Oh, that's right, you work in that run down place. Kagome, I just don't get it. Why do you work in such a hellhole? I can pull some connections and get you to a better clinic in a more pristine neighborhood." Hojo was a reputable businessman; he was embarrassed for his wife's current working conditions. In fact, when his colleagues asked where his wife worked, he would always answer: "in a charitable clinic 'near' Minato."

"I like it there."

After that, they ate in silence for the rest of the night. They were the only ones in the restaurant. Of course, he had reserved the entire restaurant just for them. Kagome hated it but she should be happy right?

Their relationship began like a fairytale; it was a Cinderella story. She was the orphan girl who had met her prince charming who had given her everything. But she was never after his money, ever. She was working part-time to make ends meet at a restaurant while she was in med school. As a result of her spectacular performance in school, she had a full scholarship. However, she had to take care of her younger brother, Souta Higurashi, and send money back to Japan every month to support him.

Hojo would always come to dine at the restaurant whenever she was working. She had later realized that he was doing a graduate degree in business administrations at the Stanford School of Business.

* * *

><p><em>Kagome Higurashi tiptoed to put back the thick leather bound on the top shelf. She had been in there for hours but she couldn't seem to find the book she wanted. She casually looked through the shelves and he caught his eyes.<em>

_'Oh my gosh, it's the cute boy from the coffee shop... He goes here too?'_

_Kagome blushed furiously. She never really had time to talk to him during work; this was her perfect opportunity. She wanted to know him a little bit better. He seemed nice enough._

_'What do I do?'_

_She just wanted to create an opportunity to talk to him but she was never bold enough in her advances. She didn't now what to do. She didn't want to seem too forthcoming in her pursuit; she just wanted him to notice her so she could get to know him a little bit better. Then, Kagome made the boldest move of her life, she even surprised herself. She scooped the stack of books into her arms and casually strolled along, pretending to be nonchalant. Hojo was on the move too; his face was buried in a stack of research paper._

_Slowly... slowly..._

_Wham._

_"Ouch..." Kagome fell backwards, dropping the tall stack of hardcovers on the floor. Sheets of loose papers flew from Hojo's hands._

_"I'm so sorry, let me help you!" Hojo apologized over and over again and offered Kagome his assistance. "I'm so sorry. Nice to meet you, I'm Hojo Ikeda."_

* * *

><p>At first, she detested his preppy boy attitude; but after he had shown her his sincerity, she let him into her life and eventually fell for him.<p>

They did all of the cliché things that couples had done: watch the sun come up, long walks by the beaches, kissing in the rain... He had told her that he had loved her. After his incessant wooing and begging, she felt like she was wanted for the first time in her life. Then, she had her fairytale wedding in a lavish Vivienne Westwood gown in a cathedral in France with over 600 guests like it was yesterday. Now, three years, three months, two weeks, and four days later they were like strangers living in two different worlds. They might as well as been. Hojo was always out on business trips. Their relationship deteriorated day by day. At first, she would call him every night, then once a week, and now... they never spoke to each other. He didn't understand her; she didn't even know where he was.

Their relationship had never truly been based on the physically intimate. In the beginning they had a healthy marriage but it slowly terminated with time.

Hojo was very handsome. He was one of those cookie cutter produced good looking pretty boys but there was always something missing from his touch. There had never been that sparkle. Those electrifying touches... like that feeling like InuYasha had given her.

* * *

><p>Shout out to Helen! This chapter is dedicated to her for braving through her 7 - 10 French exam! I named the chapter after our favorite economist, HAHAHA.<p> 


	11. Chapter 10: The Inescapable Hubble's Law

Yay! For my readers who has read the first version of the story... This is a brand new never-before-seen chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>The Inescapable Hubble's Law<strong>

* * *

><p>Hubble's Law: <em>"Galaxies recede from an observer at a rate proportional to their distance to that observer."<em>

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Sango-chan," Kagome greeted her fellow doctor and friend as she stepped into the door bright and early on a Saturday morning.<p>

"Kagome!" Sango was excited to see Kagome; she wanted all the details of her hot date with her gorgeous husband.

"You seem refreshed and excited today," Kagome gave her a soft smile and nodded at Shiori who was filing patient files at the reception with Hitomiko.

"You look tired, Kagome."

"I am, Sango. I'm exhausted," Kagome pouted while taking off of her navy down winter jacket and hanging it on the coatrack. She ran her hands through her hair.

"Oh? Exhausted?" Sango nudged Kagome with her elbows and her eyebrow perked suggestively.

Oh. Kagome had a flush of red on her face. She got Sango's not so subtle hint. She couldn't remember the last time Hojo and her were really together. Hojo was never a physical man and she never really derived carnal pleasures from her husband. Their married life was satisfactory before but now they were like a pair of awkward junior high couple. Last night after they got back from the sushi restaurant she slept earlier to wake up at 7 to get to work this morning.

Kagome didn't want to admit to Sango or herself, rather, how pathetic her marriage really was so she returned a sultry look to avoid any more of Sango's questions.

"'Atta girl," Sango laughed and went about with her previous task after receiving a satisfactory reply.

Kagome smiled at the thought of how free Sango was, oh the joy of the single unmarried life. She was deep in ponder when suddenly she heard a raucous coming from the outside approaching the clinic.

"Someone! Help this man!"

Kagome's head shot to the door where two younger men were carrying a middle-aged man into the clinic. The man was gasping for air and his eyes were flipping with disorientation. His muscles were dysfunctional and he couldn't stand up straight. He was foaming at the mouth and trembling uncontrollably.

"Ai! Shiori! I need a little help here!" Kagome advanced towards the man and called out to her nurses for help. "He's suffering from oxygen deprivation and ataxia!"

"I have the pump!" Ai rushed out from the back with a breathing assistant instrument. She placed the mask over the man's mouth and began squeezing the valve to feed oxygen into the man's lungs.

"Where did you find him?" Kagome turned to the younger man beside her who was supporting the patient by the shoulders. "Do you know who he is?"

The clueless younger man in the yellow jacket and safety shoes only shook his head at Kagome.

"Let's get him to exam room number 2!" Kagome instructed Shiroi who led the men into the back of the clinic.

"Doctor Higurashi, he's not responding to the pump!" Ai cried as she squeezed the valve more rapidly.

Kagome cringed and made an acute decision, "Alright, code blue, lets get him a defibrillator to help him breathe!"

"We don't have a defibrillator at the clinic!" Midoriko informed Kagome while she rushed out from the equipment room from the back of the clinic. She handed Kagome an orotracheal tube. "But this would work just fine."

Kagome took the orotracheal tube from Midoriko's hands and gave her a gentle nod. She requested for Ai's assistant while the men placed the patient on the examine table.

"Ai! We'll have to make do with this instead; replace the valve with this. Hold him still for a moment," Kagome instructed the young nurse while she inserted the catheter down the man's throat. "Now replace the mouth cover with the tracheal button and force the air with the pump down directly."

Ai followed Kagome's directions while Kagome hooked the man up on a monitor and intravenous fluids. She took out a needle valve to take a blood sample from the man to analyze him cause of the ataxia. From him dysfunctional muscle contractions, he looked like he was poisoned. But from what?

"Doctor?" a woman in her late twenties was at the door of the examination room holding to a brown leather bag. "I think this belongs to the man over there. I was walking behind him when he fainted."

Kagome gave the woman a smile and asked Midoriko to check for identifications, "He might have a wallet or something so we could find out who she is."

"Um... Kagome-chan?" Midoriko pulled an engraved tag on a necklace chain out of the bag and held it out for Kagome to see. _Kuruko Tsuki. DNR._

Kagome's eyes widened and dropped the roll of medical tape in her hands, "What have I done? We've just saved a man who doesn't want to be saved. DNR... 'do not resuscitate...'"

* * *

><p>The morning was slow; it was a weekend morning but he decided to come into the office with Miroku to get him familiarized with the environment before he officially began work on Monday. InuYasha had spent his morning sipping a cup of hazelnut latte. No wonder Kikyo and Kagome always got this stuff - it was delicious and fluffy. It was becoming his new secret guilty pleasure. Maybe he should try it with cinnamon buns next time.<p>

"I'm loving my new office," the automatic blinds that came up and down with the click of a button amused Miroku. "Up... down... up... down... down... up..."

InuYasha rolled his eyes at Miroku's amusement.

"How old are you?" InuYasha interrogated Miroku.

"Gee InuYasha, you're such a killjoy."

"Get back to work, I'll be in my office."

Miroku ignored InuYasha and went back clicking interesting buttons that controlled the electronic system in his new office, InuYasha was just grumpy and being himself. Well, maybe not as himself but whatever. Lovesick moron. But then again, InuYasha was unusually nicer today than he had been before.

* * *

><p>"What do we do now?" Ai looked at Kagome worriedly. "Can we just... take the tube out?"<p>

"Well, the moment we stop pumping air into him, we're technically committing second degree murder," Midoriko beat Kagome to a reply. "We'll just have to keep pumping air into him until he wakes up."

Kagome cringed. She was in turmoil. She had no idea that the patient didn't want to be resuscitated. She needed to respect the patient's wishes but she was at a crossroad. What was she going to do? He didn't want to be saved.

"Or until he wakes up and decides to legally hold us liable for saving his life," Sango walked into the room while taking off of her latex gloves. She couldn't help but to point out the irony of the current situation. "How's Tsuki-san doing here?"

"His HB and BP are normal," Ai looked up to brief Sango.

"Can we find his next of kin?" Kagome asked out of the blue.

"I guess... I'll get Hitomiko on that," Sango disposed of the gloves into the trashcan and disappeared from the door.

"There's nothing more we can do to help him now but to wait until he wakes up..." Kagome said almost in a whisper. She stared at the man in silence without a word; the rims of her eyes were damp.

She didn't know why she was so emotional when she watched this man's life supported by an oxygen pump. It triggered a childhood memory that she had long buried deeply in her head. Perhaps it was the man's dark hair or his pained expression on his face. Or perhaps it was just because he looked he was the same age as her father was. Something made her feel especially sympathetic towards this man lying on the patient bed. She had an instantaneous attachment to him.

* * *

><p><em>The teary eyed five-year-old girl sat in silence by her father's patient bed. A thin nasotracheal tube attached to his nose sustained his life.<em>

_Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep..._

_She watched him silence; he wasn't moving. He was hooked on so many different wires to sustain his life. He was suffering from organophosphate poisoning. He was an agro-sciences researcher developing a new type of herbicide but unfortunately an accident had occurred at the lab and the organophosphate had leaked. Now he was in a deep coma on critical life support._

_Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep..._

_"Daddy?" the young Kagome looked at her lifeless father with tears in her eyes but she refused to cry. Her mother had told Kagome that she needed to keep smiling and hold her tears back or her father would be sad. Kagome was trying very hard to hold her tears back. She wanted her daddy to see her big smile when he wakes up. She bit down on her lips, hard._

_'Daddy is going to be okay, Kagome...' she heard her mother's voice ringing in her head. 'He's going to be okay..."_

_Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep..._

_"Daddy, Mommy said that you'll wake up eventually but you've been asleep all this time," Kagome leaned closer to her father's face to kiss him on the cheek. "I miss you."_

_Kagome could faintly hear the doctor's low voice in the hall, "I'm sorry, I've done everything to help Higurashi-san but I'm afraid he's brain dead from the organophosphate poisoning. He's been exposed too much to the chemical..."_

_She suddenly heard her mother's heartbreaking cry from outside of the hospital room by her mother. Kagome knew something was wrong and that her daddy wasn't coming back anymore._

* * *

><p>Yes, this man reminded her so much of her father. She was only five when her father had passed away but Kagome had some of her fondest childhood memories with him. He would take her to the park everyday he came back home from work. He taught her how to ride the bike, identify medicinal herbs and wild berries, and pick out the sweet watermelons from the watery ones at the grocery market.<p>

She watched the man in silence and squeezed the valve every five seconds to pump air into his lungs. This man's life was in her hands right now. She felt almost... obligated to save his life. Obligation wasn't exactly the right word. It was more of... a compulsive need.

* * *

><p><em>"No! Daddy! I want Daddy back! Daddy!" the young Kagome shrieked on top of her lungs. "I want Daddy!"<em>

_Her mother held on to her tightly while the medical staff pulled the white cloth over her father's face. Her father was gone. He had a living will to forgo extensive life support if ever he should require it. She watched the doctors unhook her father's lifeline and the squiggly line on the monitor turn flat._

_Beeeeepppp..._

_Silence._

_"Daddy!" she cried once more while reaching to her father._

_"No, Kagome," her pregnant mother whispered between her sobs. "Daddy isn't coming back. Stop calling out to him. He can't hear you anymore."_

_Kagome didn't believe her mother, "Daddy! Wake up! Mommy's lying!"_

* * *

><p>Kagome sat in the dark examination room in silence while watching Tsuki-san. She took the initiative to care for him. The clinic wasn't particularly busy today.<p>

"Doctor Higurashi?" Ai knocked on the door while she stood by the entrance of the examination room. "I have the blood sample analysis right here."

Kagome leaned over to accept the folder from Ai and opened it to glance at the patient's blood solute concentration index.

_Positive for the accumulation of acetylcholine and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase._

Kagome held her breath and she felt a rush of adrenaline from the shock. She was sure of it. He had organophosphate poisoning, just like her father did. Organophosphate was found in cheap weed killers; he could have been poisoned from eating unwashed fruits or vegetables. She could save his life. She wanted to save his life. In a way, she felt almost as if she had a responsibility to save him in order to amend for her inability to help her father at the time. She knew what she was doing was wrong. This man clearly had a DNR medical will.

_'But not allowing for resuscitation is another thing. He didn't say he didn't want to be rescued when he had chemical poisoning. I'm just alleviating his symptoms of chemical poisoning.'_

Kagome looked up to Ai and opened her mouth, "Ai, I need 5 mg of atropine."

"Doctor Higurashi... we can't administer anything to him after we resuscitate him," Ai cringed and reminded Kagome of her actions and liabilities. "We're already breaking the law right now by doing all of this."

"Ai, I know what I'm doing, just let me help him. I really don't believe that he wants to die like this. I'll take on the full responsibility."

Ai hesitated for a moment and walked out of the room to get the atropine dose.

* * *

><p>Ai rummaged through the lower shelf of the medicine room, "Atrophine... at... tro...phine..."<p>

No atropine. She cringed; there was no atrophine. They didn't have atrophine? But atrophine was the core medicine in the World Health Organization's "Essential Drugs List" for medical practices. How could they not have atrophine?

Ai frowned and wandered back into the room to Kagome.

"Doctor Higurashi?" Ai came into the room with a furrowed brow. "We don't have atrophine."

Kagome gave Ai a shocked look. How did they not have atrophine? She needed to administer it, now.

"Ai, pump air. I'm calling InuYasha."

* * *

><p><em>Ring... Ring... Ring...<em>

InuYasha opened one eye; he was just enjoying a nice and quiet nap and now he was just woken up unexpectedly by the darn phone. Darn Kaede; why did she transfer the call to his office?

_'This better be an emergency.'_

InuYasha leaned forward from the comfort of his leather office chair and picked up the phone. His heart almost skipped a beat when he heard the woman's voice on the other side.

"Ka..gome? Do you need something?"

...

"Atrophine? Don't you have that at the clinic?"

...

...

"Oh."

...

He knew Shikon no Tama lacked resources but... lacking atrophine? Unacceptable.

...

"Defibrillator?"

...

...

He didn't want to bring the clunky machine over but since they lacked atrophine of all things, he should bring the defibrillator Kagome had just requested.

...

...

"I'll be right there, Kagome."

* * *

><p>He didn't even know what had gotten into him. A few weeks before he didn't even want to set foot into the clinic but now he was bringing in a state-of-the-arts defibrillator and oxygen tanks into Shikon no Tama.<p>

He parked at the back of the clinic as Kagome requested.

"InuYasha! Thank you so much!" Kagome ran out of the back doors and greeted him with such unexpected jocularity.

He gulped down hard.

"Here, let me help you get this inside," InuYasha smiled at Kagome as he rolled the machine into the clinic.

"Exam room 2," Kagome direct InuYasha into the small room where Tsuki-san was lying on the narrow examination table with Ai supporting his life using the oxygen pump.

"Ai, we'll take out the tracheal tube and replace it with the defibrillator mask," Kagome slowly pulled out the tube from the man's esophagus and turned on the defibrillator.

Sango had thought she heard InuYasha's voice and stepped into the room to greet him. She suddenly cringed at the sight of the defibrillator and let out a loud remark.

"Kagome! What are you doing? He has a DNR!"

Kagome gasped at Sango's remark. She slowly turned her gaze to InuYasha who was staring at her with disbelief. His face was ashen upon hearing Sango's words.

"Kagome, I need to talk to you."

* * *

><p>"Why the hell did you save this man in the first place?" InuYasha growled at the defenseless Kagome who had a look of terror on her face in response to InuYasha's outburst. "He clearly has a 'do not resuscitate' order!"<p>

He had just helped Kagome to help a patient with a DNR. Kagome knew about the DNR too. InuYasha had never felt so betrayed before in his professional life. He was disappointed at Kagome. It was Kagome of all people.

"I..." Kagome tried to explain herself but her voice was weak and lacked conviction. She didn't have a strong case. Heck, she didn't have any reasons at all. "I didn't see it at first..."

Tsuki-san reminded her of her father; she just couldn't stand by and watch him suffer and die. She knew she let her personal emotions impair her professional judgment. She wanted to tell InuYasha but she couldn't; she didn't know why.

"How could you not have noticed? You check the patient first for any indications of DNR before you help them with the defibrillator or any type of breathing aid! You knew that he had a DNR and you asked me to help him? You asked me to bring a defibrillator of all things! God, Kagome! Why? Why are you so stupid? Why am I so stupid? You lied to me!" InuYasha stepped closer to Kagome; his eyes were turning a shade redder than before from his rage. "What are you going to do now? If you pull the tube now, it's illegal euthanasia! How could you not have known? Why are you such an idiot? It's the first thing they teach you back in med school! Gosh, Kagome! I can't believe this!"

InuYasha had lost it. He was fuming. Kagome had just betrayed his trust.

Kagome drooped her head and uncontrollable tears began falling from the corners of her eyes. She really didn't know at the time when she rescued the man; the necklace wasn't on him but in a bag that a pedestrian delivered after she had resuscitated the man. What was she supposed to do? She was a doctor; her first instinct was to help patients in distress. Even after she found out about his DNR, she had a compulsive desire to help him.

"My father died of organophosphate poisoning when I was 5. I couldn't help him at all. I watched him die. I watched as the doctors took out his tubes. Tsuki-san reminds me so much of him. I don't believe that he wants to die even if he has a DNR," Kagome finally composed herself and told InuYasha the truth but her voice was still shaky and muffled by tears.

InuYasha's heart sank when he heard Kagome's sniffling. The patient was just like her father... Her father... InuYasha didn't know anything about Kagome's past but as soon as she said the words "my father," he understood. InuYasha would have given anything in the world to save his mother.

He felt his head clearing up. Was he being too harsh on her? Why was he acting this way to her? He was scaring her by lashing out on her. What Kagome had done was to open Pandora's box for lawsuits; he just wanted to protect her. He didn't mean to sound so harsh. Even though she betrayed his trust she didn't really mean it. The real reason why he was so mad was that he was worried about her. He took a few steps closer to Kagome; he could smell her salty tears and it made him feel guiltier than he had before.

But an internal feeling was irking him; although he could understand where Kagome was coming from - she was a professional physician. She needed to respect her patient's wishes.

_'But the patient reminds her of her father...'_

"I just..." InuYasha bit down on his lips, unsure of how to approach Kagome. He wanted to reason with her but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouths and say those words. He was afraid of what she may say back to him. He cared so much about her feelings.

Kagome ignored InuYasha's advances and turned to face her back towards him. She was thoroughly hurt by his harsh words. She had been criticized in her career about her professional judgment before but she didn't understand why she was taking InuYasha's so hard on herself.

"Doctor Takahashi! Doctor Higurashi! Come quick! Tsuki-san is..." Ai ran into Kagome's office panic stricken with an ashen face. "He's... not well."

Kagome brushed away her tears and raced out of her office doors to the examination room. Tsuki was now conscious but he was choking and gasping for air while trembling on the examination table.

"Tsuki-san! Let me help you!" Kagome cried while stepping closer to the man. "I can save you! Why did you take out your defibrillator? Do you really want to die? Why?"

The man mustered all of his energy left over and extended his arms to push Kagome away. He was making loud and angry moaning and groaning noises, "D...o... not... save... m..e... s...top..."

Kagome couldn't comprehend at all. At all. Why didn't this man want to be saved? She wanted to know or it would give her nightmares and haunt her.

"Why?" Kagome yelled and picked up the defibrillator tube and mask while trying to place it back onto Tsuki-san's nose.

InuYasha caught Kagome's wrist and barked at her, "Kagome. Stop. He doesn't want you to save him."

"No!" Kagome tried to get out of InuYasha's strong grip; her mind was cloudy from the overwhelming plethora of emotions washing over her.

"He's not your father!" InuYasha's voice resounded in the small room. He knew Kagome wanted to save this man because he resembled the late elder Higurashi but the man wasn't like her father. He didn't want to live even given the chance to.

...

...

...

InuYasha was right; he was nothing like her father.

Beeeeep...

"Doctor Higurashi, Doctor Takahashi, Tsuki-san is... gone."

Kagome didnt know why she was so sad. She had realized that Tsuki wasn't really her father. But he did remind her of him. Old memories started flowing back to her mind.

_Beeeeepppp..._

_Silence._

_"Daddy!" she cried once more while reaching to her father._

_"No, Kagome," her mother whispered between her sobs. "Daddy isn't coming back. Stop calling out to him. He can't hear you anymore."_

The old memory triggered from all of this was too painful for her to handle at once. Kagome had to run out of there. She needed to leave.

* * *

><p>He found her in her small office with the lights off. She was crying. With each of her tear, his heart grew heavier and heavier. He needed to do something. He just wanted to tell her that he was sorry and that he'll take care of any complications for her. InuYasha boldly opened his arm and embraced Kagome from the behind to cradle her in his arms.<p>

"Don't cry, Kagome..." he cooed her with his soothing voice. "It's going to be all right. I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

He didn't know what he was sorry for though. For blaming her and yelling at her before? For his inability to help anyone in this predicament? For the situation that had just triggered the dark memories from Kagome's childhood?

"I miss my Daddy..." Kagome's voice was muffled. "He reminded me so much of him..."

He could feel Kagome trembling in his arms; she was shaking violently and gasping for air in between her tears. Feeling InuYasha's arms around her didn't do her much good in calming herself. She was having a panic attack with all the adrenaline running through her veins. She could smell his pine-tinted scent; he was intoxicating. But for some unknown reason, she felt so safe in his arms. She almost couldn't remember why she was so upset. She had forgotten even about what they were quarreling about earlier. Kagome turned around to face InuYasha and buried her face in his chest.

InuYasha looked down at the Kagome who was still sobbing and drenching his white coat with her urgent tears. He didn't know what to do; dealing with sobbing women wasn't exactly his specialty. In fact, the only woman he had remotely tried to comfort in his entire life was his mother. He held out a free hand and placed it on Kagome's head and gently stroked her while cooing. She was so fragile, so vulnerable, and so helpless.

To his surprise, Kagome's trembling subsided.

"Ka... Kagome..." InuYasha whispered while pulling her closer to his chest. He felt pulses of shocks in his body and his heartbeat became more and more irregular. He just wanted to comfort her and nothing else but he was stirring while feeling the proximity of her body to his. He pulled his chin to lean against her forehead and they just stood there in silence.

What was he doing to her? Kagome felt her body helplessly moving with his. She shifted her stance and gazed up to InuYasha's golden eyes to say something. Unsuspectingly, she felt a magnetic attraction from him pulling her in closer...

Closer...

Closer...

He didn't know what he was doing but he was lost in her eyes. InuYasha leaned closer down to Kagome. He didn't know why but it felt so natural... so... right.

Slowly, his lips grazed over hers delicately.

_'This is wrong,'_ the logical part of Kagome's brain was screaming for her to pull away from him. _'Stop yourself, Kagome!'_

_'She's married, InuYasha! What the hell are you doing? Stop!'_ he knew what he was going to do would complicate matters between them but... did he care? If he pulled away now, he knew that he would regret it even more.

He leaned closer to her and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

Kagome's eyes widened when she felt the assertive contact and clenched the fabric of his white coat more strenuously than she did before. She hesitated for a moment and tried to fight it. But eventually, her grip and features softened and she closed her eyes while returning his unexpected osculation.

The expression that she took his breath away was an understatement. She was drawing his life and soul away from his body but he was more than willing to give them to her.

She had waited her entire life for that one kiss. _This_ was that one kiss. _The_ kiss.

Her heart pounded like a bass drum; her fingertips hurt from the blood rushing through them.

He took the moment to relish the moment until he hesitantly pulled away and looked at her apologetically.

"I'm... sorry," he whispered to her while still holding onto the small of her back. But the truth was he wasn't sorry.

She didn't know why he was apologizing, she wasn't sorry. But out of conformity and tact she whispered, "I'm sorry too."

* * *

><p>O_O Early InuYasha and Kagome romance? Woah? Kagome's cheating on her husband Hojo? Meh. Relax people, it's just a small kiss. Pffttt. Gee. Don't need to get all morally ... defensive... I don't know... Everyone, calm down.<p>

Yes! Less than 48 hours until I'm free! Exams still stuck but I've found a way to cope with it... coughwritingfanfictioncough. What? What's that?


	12. Chapter 11: Near the Pareto Optimality

Yay! Exams are done! I can taste the freedom! Extra long chapters from now on! Yes! Another fresh chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>Approaching the Pareto Optimality<strong>

* * *

><p>Pareto Optimality – <em>"Given an initial allocation of goods among a set of individuals, a change to a different allocation that makes at least one individual better off without making any other individual worse off."<em>

* * *

><p>"Honey, I've been thinking for a really long time," he began as he moved his hands away from the leather steering wheel and took her hands into his. "I know things haven't gone very well between us for the past year. I want us to talk things through. Besides, it's Christmas Eve."<p>

Kagome raised her eyes to her husband's and stared at him speechlessly with her mouth opened slightly from the shock of his words. She wasn't expecting this out of anything. Hojo was still trying so hard to work things out in their marriage and for that, Kagome was glad. She gripped her seatbelt and played with the fabric with her fingers.

_'That's right... it's the day before Christmas. How could I have forgotten? Christmas is my favorite Western holiday too...'_

He continued his conversation with his wife, "I've made dinner reservations for tonight at Hirakotsu. We need to spend some time to sort things out."

His sincerity was making her feeling guiltier than she had before. That kiss with InuYasha. Should she tell him about it? It was killing her slowly. Kagome wasn't the cheating type. She had always been a faithful wife until... now. Yesterday to be exact.

_'But it was only one little kiss. Just one. Nothing else happened. You shouldn't tell Hojo; he might misunderstand.'_

The guilt was still killing her from the inside, hacking away at her conscious. But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Kagome smiled at her husband and nodded. When they made their wedding vows to each other, she had meant every word in her vow. No matter how rough their marriage had gotten; she would still keep trying to work things out with Hojo.

"I'll see you at 7?" Hojo asked his wife with a gentle and caring voice. "We need to spend more time together. Remember how we used to celebrate Christmas Eve? It'll be just like old times."

"Okay," Kagome returned a smile to her husband and kissed him on the cheek before stepping outside of his Lexus.

"Good morning, everyone," InuYasha strolled into the clinic and lowered his head to take his wool coat and scarf off. He surveyed the clinic. InuYasha was suddenly reminded of Christmas and felt the holiday spirit. How could he have forgotten? It was Christmas Eve. In the midst of consultations, surgeries, craziness, and everything in between; he had forgotten all about the holiday. Ai, Shippo, and Hitomiko had done a phenomenal job of decorating the clinic last night. They had hung fresh cedar wreathes and branches around on the walls and tables. The clinic was filled with a refreshing woody scent. InuYasha couldn't help but to smile a little. He turned around to hang his things and caught sight of Kagome who was walking into the clinic wearing a dashing white ski jacket. He felt his face growing warm and his heartbeat quickening as she approached him. He only nodded at her and she smiled meekly back at him. Neither of them knew what to say to the other.

Shippo watched them from afar. He turned to Hitomiko, "Oi, Hitomiko. Is it me or is the tension between those two is so thick you can cut it with a knife?"

Hitomiko directed her attention at Kagome and InuYasha; Shippo was right. Something was odd between those two. She couldn't identify anything for certain but InuYasha and Kagome do seem... awkward when standing beside each other. Something was very unnatural about the way they interacted with each other.

"Rough commute?" he finally broke the dead silence with her.

"Hmm nm... no." Kagome shook her head. "My husband drove me here this morning."

She made sure to emphasize the word husband and dictated the word clearly in place of Hojo's name. She wanted to make sure that what happened between them the other day was only a one time deal. No encore. Just a one time deal. She was happily married and he was merely her coworker. She wanted nothing else beyond professional courtesy from him.

InuYasha's ears drooped down. "Husband.." Of course. How could he forget? She had a husband. He felt horribly about what he did to her: he took advantage of her. He was the one who had initiated the kiss. He was the one who had forced him onto her. He had breeched the trust between them and now they probably couldn't even be friends. He mentally slapped himself. He had messed everything up. Dammit. Damn. Damn. Damn. He tried to apologize but couldn't bring himself to look at her in the eyes or open his mouth. His effort was fruitless. After all, actions spoke louder than words and no words could justify what he had done.

"I love what Ai, Shippo, and Hitomiko did with the decorations, don't you think?" her good-natured remark caught him by surprise. He could only nod in response.

He was going to say something to her, "Kago-"

_Ring... Ring... Ring..._

"I..." he ignored his phone and continued. "I was wond-"

_Ring... Ring... Ring..._

Kagome smiled and interrupted him, "You should get that."

"Oh..." he dug his hand into his pocket and touched the answer button. "Hello?"

"InuYasha! Merry Christmas!" Rin greeted him on the phone excitedly. "I just wanted to remind you that the dinner is at 8! Don't forget! You didn't forget did you? Samuru wants to see his uncle! Don't you, Samuru?"

InuYasha grinned. He would have forgotten if it hadn't been Rin's call. Although Christmas was a Western holiday, it was widely popular in Japan. InuYasha had grown up celebrating it.

"I'll be there, Merry Christmas to you too, Rin. I wouldn't miss it for the world - celebrating my little nephew's first Christmas," InuYasha cracked a smile. "Talk to you later, I'm at work."

...

"Yup... see you tonight."

InuYasha ended the call and looked up; Kagome was gone. Great.

He walked into the change room and grabbed his white coat; Kagome's wasn't on the hook. She was probably in an examination room already. _Aye._ The dynamics between them was so awkward. So awkward. He didn't know what to do about it.

"Doctor Takahashi? We need you in exam room 4," Shiori walked in with a patient file and handed it to him. "The patient has high blood pressure and diabetes. He isn't doing too well with managing either."

"Thanks, Shiori. I'll be there in a moment," InuYasha gave the nurse a smile and opened the file to review it. His first patient of the day. _'Here we go again.'_

* * *

><p>The day was uneventful. Nothing out of the unusual: just a few common colds, one broken arm, and a few other regular patients here and there. Kagome leaned back into her chair and stared at the clock on the wall. 6:30 pm. She should really get going; she had just seen her last patient of the day a couple minutes ago. She didn't know why but she was making up excuses for her to stay at the clinic a bit longer than she should have. At this rate she was going to be late. Fashionably late for her dinner with Hojo.<p>

Kagome took in a deep breath and propped herself up from her office chair.

"Doctor?"

She heard the woman's meek address and turned to face her. The young woman had a small bundle in her arms. It was an infant.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Kagome asked the woman while putting down the files for the clinic's master budget sheet.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time but can you take a look at my son? It's quite an emergency. I think he's really sick," the woman gave her an apologetic look and stepped closer to Kagome.

Kagome took the eight-month-old infant in her arms and frowned when she realized that he was turning into a bluish color. Even from his appearance Kagome could tell that she had a serious prognosis at hand.

"Is there something wrong with my son?" the young woman looked worriedly at Kagome. "He had been wheezing for the whole day today. I realized something was wrong so I decided to take him here. Please help him, Doctor."

The baby was having poor blood circulation and it didn't seem like enough oxygen was getting to his lungs. There was probably something wrong with his heart. She wasn't too familiar with conditions like this but InuYasha probably was.

"We have a heart specialist today at the clinic, I'll ask him to take a look, okay?"

* * *

><p>InuYasha listened to the baby's heart once more with the stethoscope and cringed. A murmur from the heart and limited activity from one of the valve. As if the cyanosis wasn't obvious enough to confirm his suspicions... this was definitely a tetralogy of fallot defect. A tetralogy of fallot defect... InuYasha felt a sudden ill feeling and he felt cold sweat trickling down his forehead. It seemed that the little guy's condition had also worsened since he was wheezing. How should he tell the mother? Her son's condition was becoming life threatening. The baby could die within twenty-four hours if he didn't perform the corrective surgery.<p>

"He needs a tetralogy of fallot repair; he has a congenital heart defect that can only be cured with the corrective surgery," InuYasha stated as he stared into Kagome's eyes then the mother's. "We need to take him back to my practice. He needs surgery. Immediately."

The infant quietly grabbed his mother's garb; his little face twitched and it looked like he was in indescribable pain. The poor little thing. Kagome cringed and nodded at InuYasha, "I'm coming with you." InuYasha only nodded to acknowledge Kagome's proposal.

Although she was supposed to be at the restaurant some time ago, she felt justified for her absence if it was attending to a patient for an emergency. It was unfortunate for somehow she felt oddly relieved. Kagome pulled out her phone from her pocket and excused herself while she called her husband. A few ringing later, nothing.

Kagome dialed Hojo's number again but it went straight to his voicemail. She would have preferred to tell him directly but she wanted to get it out of the way sooner by telling him.

_"Hello, you have reached Hojo Ikeda and I'm currently unavailable. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you."_

_Beep._

"Hey honey, it's me. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it for tonight. I'm caught up with things at work. I'll see you later tonight when I get home though," Kagome paused for a moment to gather up her scattered thoughts before continuing. "I... I'll be thinking of you."

Kagome lowered the phone and touched the end call button on the screen. She knew she should have said "I love you" but it wasn't rolling off of her tongue.

"Alright, Abi-san, we're going to take little Jinenji here to Doctor Takahashi's practice where he'll perform the surgery. Since you've heard Doctor Takahashi, your son needs the surgery right away," Kagome informed the mother as she walked back into the exam room. The woman nodded understandingly with tears in her eyes.

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

"I'm closing the ventricular septal's defect with the patch," he announced to his team while concentrating his sight on the magnifying scope. "I also need another patch for the right ventricle and main pulmonary artery."

InuYasha commenced the surgery. He was concentrating intently on the magnifying scope as the infant's veins and arteries were ten times finer than the adult's. He made an incision to open the pulmonary valve to remove the thickened muscle. _'Just a little more to the left... up... got it.'_

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

"Sir, there's a significant blood increase in his lungs," his executive surgical assistant informed him while glancing at the monitor. There was an increase in the infant's oxygen intake from the oxygen tank.

"Good," InuYasha grinned._ 'Success.'_

* * *

><p>Kagome held the trembling mother in her arms. She was here for moral support. Kagome understood how hard it must have been for the mother to go through something like this, especially on Christmas Eve. She wanted to ask Abi-san where the father of the child was since little Jinenji was in such a big surgery but Kagome already figured that Abi was probably a single mother. She didn't want to pry into her affairs. As if having her son in emergency surgery wasn't heartbreaking enough, Kagome didn't want to inflict more unnecessary pain on the woman.<p>

"It's okay, Abi-san... InuYasha is the very best cardiac surgeon. Jinenji is going to be just fine," Kagome tried to comfort the agitated mother in the waiting room. The wait was nerve wrecking even though the surgeon performing the surgery on little Jinenji was InuYasha.

The surgery light dimmed and moments later, InuYasha walked out of the glass doors with a big smile on his face, "He's in recovery, Abi-san. Jinenji is well now."

"Oh! Thank you, Doctor Takahashi! Thank you so much!" the mother ran to embrace InuYasha tightly, teary eyed. "How can I ever thank you?"

Kagome smiled at the heart-warming scene; it was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. She glanced at her wristwatch once more; it was 8:18 pm. She could still probably make it for the dinner. The surgery was very quick.

* * *

><p>"I have a dinner reservation with Ikeda, Hojo," Kagome smiled sweetly and cheerfully at the waiter at the reception. She was going to surprise her husband with her unexpected presence. He probably wasn't expecting her after she had left that voice mail for him on the phone. Kagome smiled again while imagining Hojo's pleasantly surprised face when he would see her.<p>

She had even made an extra effort to make herself more presentable before coming. She adjusted the shoulder strap of her velvet dark green cocktail dress and smoothed out the ridges of the knee length lowback dress. She tucked her cascading long hair behind her ears and made sure her earrings' chains weren't tangled. Kagome smiled to herself once more and strutted into the dining area when the waiter motioned for her to follow him. The restaurant was packed with couples and families celebrating Christmas Eve. Kagome glanced around at the festive decorations in the restaurant: hollies, wreathes, cedars, reindeers... Oh the festive cheers.

Kagome saw Hojo and... who was that woman beside him? Kagome perked an eyebrow; she didn't expect there to be anyone else. She felt a bit abandoned and disappointed that Hojo had sought after other company. Usually after seeing their husbands with another woman at a high-end restaurant, it was natural to assume that their husbands were cheating on them. It didn't occur to Kagome that Hojo was the cheating type. She knew most men couldn't be trusted but... Hojo? Hojo was just not the type to have an extramarital affair. She just knew it. Hojo had probably met up with one of their friends. She didn't blame him; she wouldn't want to spend Christmas Eve alone either.

She walked closer to have a better look: it was Kagura Imato. Kagome was excited to see Kagura and a bright smile flashed across her face.

"I see you've found someone to replace me!" Kagome teased her husband as she made her way over to the private table setting where Hojo and Kagura were seated. "How have you been, Kagura-chan?"

"Kagome-chan!" Kagura's crimson eyes suddenly curved up to a half moon smile upon seeing her long time friend. "We weren't expecting you! Hojo said that you couldn't come tonight because of work!"

Kagome gave a giggle and turned to her husband, "Well, aren't we so glad that you're my replacement! Happy holidays, Kagura-chan."

"Honey, I'm so glad you can join us," Hojo gave Kagome a smile before clicking his pen and gathering the pool of paperwork on the table into a neat pile.

"Business at the dinner table? Wow, still working hard on Christmas Eve. Am I interrupting something?" Kagome joked once again. Kagura was a family lawyer by trade; she dealt with big celebrity divorces and handled large prenuptial contracts. She couldn't think of any reasons for Hojo to be seeing a divorce lawyer. Their marriage had gotten rough but they weren't on the verge of a divorce, right... right? Then what were they up to with all those paperwork?

Kagome shrugged the irking feelings off and sat closer to Kagura, "So, what have you been up to lately? I know you're handling the Hamasakiko and Yusara divorce. Spill. I want all the juicy details. Who's getting the mansion in the suburb of Tokyo? Did he really have a love child with his backup dancer?"

"Actually, Kagome-chan, I was just leaving. You enjoy the night with Hojo, alright? Oh, it's so great you came tonight though," Kagura gave Kagome a polite smile and turned to Hojo then to Kagome once again. "I'll take the files from you, Hojo... and Kagome-chan if you can sign here for me."

Kagome looked at Kagura as if she had grown a third head, "What... files? Kagura-chan... I'm not falling for one of your old pranks again."

She nonchalantly took the paper into her hand and glanced over the header, _'Amendment to Prenuptial Agreement.'_ Kagome's eyes widened. This was no joke. She scanned the paper once again. Hojo was asking to separate the assets in their joint accounts and transferring all of his personal assets to his family This would mean that in the case of a divorce, Kagome would receive no compensation from Hojo.

In the case of a... divorce? Divorce? Hojo wanted a divorce? Kagome's head throbbed. She felt as if someone had thrown an unexpected punch right in her face. Hojo... wanted a divorce? This wasn't a divorce paper but... she knew many affluential men had forced or blackmailed their wives to sign an amendment to their prenuptial agreements before getting a divorce. There wasn't a reason to sign an amendment paper if he wasn't contemplating a divorce though. It was official; Hojo was conspiring a divorce. Kagome felt the sick feeling in her stomach; she was going to throw up from all of the tension building up in her body. The smile on her face had long disappeared.

Kagome looked charily at Hojo. She asked a question she thought she would never ask him, "You're... getting a divorce... with me?"

Kagome was hurt. Beyond hurt. She had been nothing but loyal to Hojo for the past years when he was gone on his business trips. That one small kiss with InuYasha was just a mistake that had occurred when she was emotionally fragile. She could have let it go further than it had but she had restrained herself because she was aware that she was a married woman. Did... did Hojo have someone else? Why in the world would he even consider the amendments to the prenup?

"You don't... love me anymore?" Kagome had tears in her eyes. She and Hojo were in a trough in their marriage but it didn't mean that she didn't love him anymore. It was something that happened to every single couple when they get past the honeymoon stage. Marriage kept married couples together until they fell in love with each other again. That was what marriage was all about, right?

"It's not what you think, Kagome!" Hojo shifted closer to Kagome so that he could try to justify himself a bit more while he reached for Kagome's hand. "I'm just... refinancing some things around the company..."

"By adjusting your personal finances? You run a public company, Hojo. I'm not secluded from the business world just because I'm too busily administering life saving procedures every day," Kagome barked at him while drawing her hands away. "What sort of personal finances could you possibly need to adjust for a 'public' company unless you're planning to buy back shares in the billions? Don't lie to me!"

"Actually, Kagome-chan, a lot of men does this to protect their personal assets..." Kagura tried to ameliorate the situation and ease the tension between the couple.

"You forgot something, Kagura. A lot of men do this to protect their personal assets during a divorce because they don't want to give their ex-wives one single yen! You stay out of this! Whose side are you on anyways?" Kagome pushed Kagura's remarks aside and turned to her husband once more. "And... you! Did you think I married you for your money? I don't want your damned money! I'm telling you now that I'm not even going to take a single yen from you!"

Hojo leaned back to brace himself against Kagome. He had never seen Kagome so infuriated before. Kagome had always been so mellow and understanding. Now she was attracting unnecessary attention around her and pounding on the table.

Kagome looked at the paper once again.

"Amendment to Prenuptial Agreement," she scoffed. Stupid paper. She's not signing this. Kagome took the stack of paper and tore it apart from the center while staring firmly into Hojo's eyes. Kagome didn't know where she had gotten her courage or rage. Or both. Something in her snapped, hard. She was out of character.

"We're done here," Kagome shifted her weight to let herself up and gave her husband and so call friend one last look before throwing the torn paper on the table and walking away with hurt and tears in her eyes. What had just happened? She expected to celebrate Christmas Eve with her husband only to find him meeting up with... of all the people in the world... a divorce lawyer?

* * *

><p>InuYasha sat on a couch across from Sesshomaru, Rin, and Samuru in the entertainment room. He watched as the happy family entertained their guests. Miroku was making funny faces at Samuru and the infant half-demon giggled away. The other guests were mingling about with snacks and wine. InuYasha leaned against a large cushion. He couldn't get one thought out of his mind: what was Kagome doing right now? He knew he shouldn't be thinking about her; she was probably celebrating Christmas Eve with her husband. There were so many people around him and yet he felt so lonely.<p>

He was obsessed with her.

"Samuru, what's Uncle Yashie thinking right now? Let's ask him," Rin talked to her son in a childish voice and walked over to InuYasha to sit beside him on the couch. "Something's on your mind, InuYasha."

Rin knew him too well. He turned his glance at her, still hugging onto the cushion.

"Speak," she demanded.

"There's this-" he began hesitantly with reservation before she beat him to it.

"What's her name? Let me think... Kagome? " Rin asked while tickling her son in her arms. "Miroku told me all about your predicament."

InuYasha rolled his eyes. Miroku struck again. Damn that shrink. Couldn't he go shrink someone else and mind his own business? Who else was he telling this to? InuYasha shot Miroku a dirty look across the room only to receive a wink from him instead. Damn him.

"She's married," he grimaced when he reminded himself out loud of Kagome's marital status.

"I know," Rin placed her free hand on InuYasha's shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, InuYasha."

"Me too," he gave her a half-hearted smile. "Me too."

"How's Ayame over there?" Rin nudged at InuYasha while she gave the neurosurgeon across the room a smile. "I think she's single."

InuYasha rolled his eyes at Rin, "Please, just let me sulk in peace."

* * *

><p>"Mam... Mam... Eh... Mam?" the bartender nudged Kagome once more. The young doctor had too much to drink and was now slipping in and out of consciousness by the bar. A few ill-intentioned men were lurking by her. Kagome couldn't care less about her appearance right now but her low back, low cut short cocktail dress was begging for undivided attention in the club. Kagome Higurashi couldn't believe it. Was her marriage really coming into an end? How could she have been so stupid all those time? She thought things were beginning to work out with Hojo again. Then, she got served with an amendment to their prenup agreement? That was no different than signing a divorce paper. That was pretty much a "pre-divorce" paper.<p>

Kagome took another shot of tequila and smacked the shot glass on the countertop. What happened to "until death do us apart" or "through bad times and the good?" They were all just words of nothingness.

"Mam? Excuse me?" the bartender frowned once more as he shook her once more. "You need someone to take you home. Mam? Do you have someone I can call for you?"

Kagome's head shot up to the bartender's in a daze. She couldn't think straight but Kagome flashed a big smile out of nowhere, "Yes."

* * *

><p>InuYasha sat there with a bored expression across his face. He cupped his chin in his palm and observed the dinner party guests. He took another sip of his ginger ale when he saw Miroku approaching him.<p>

"Ginger ale? That stuff's fuzzy and has no ethanol. What a weak sauce," Miroku nudged InuYasha with his eyebrow perking up. "Still thinking of the ER doc?"

"Shuddap. Go and hit on that girl you were with," InuYasha brushed his friend off. Rin had already gone to bed with Samuru and Sesshomaru was making a fool out of himself in the kitchen with some of his old friends from business school. Everyone at the dinner party was dead drunk. "Leave me alone."

"Way ahead of you, Merry Christmas!" Miroku cheered.

InuYasha looked down at his watch. A quarter past midnight. Merry Christmas to him.

_Buzz... Buzz... Buzz..._

InuYasha felt his phone vibrating in his pant pocket. Who would be calling him at this hour? Was there an emergency from a patient or something? He reached for his phone in frenzy and glanced at the unfamiliar caller ID. He answered it anyways, "Hello?"

"Hi... is this InuYasha Takahashi-san?" the man on the phone asked him curiously with some reservation.

"Yes... and you are?" InuYasha was curious. He was speaking to an unfamiliar man from an unfamiliar number. What was happening? There was loud raucous on the other side as well. It sounded like a club or bar of some kind.

"Do you happen to know a Kagome Higurashi? She's very drunk at the bar right now and I'm wonder if you would be able to pick her up," the man requested politely.

InuYasha's heart raced at the mention of Kagome's name. He tuned out after hearing Higurashi, "Yes... where is she right now? Can you give me the address?"

* * *

><p>He had to push some drunken people away from him as he made his way through the dark nightclub. The air in this place was foul. The scent of sweat and ... body fluids made him sick. He had only been in here for less than a couple minutes and he was already having a headache from the stench in the air and loud music. Why the hell was Kagome here? Was someone playing a joke on him? Wasn't Kagome at some high-end restaurant celebrating Christmas Eve with her husband? What in the world had happened?<p>

He winnowed his way to the bar and immediately the gorgeous woman in the velvet dress drew him in.

"Kagome!" he called out her name and gravitated towards her. It was Kagome and he was sure of it. "Kagome?"

He called her name once more but received no response from her. He got a better look at her as he moved closer to her. She was drinking herself to oblivion. He looked at the number of shot glasses by her elbow. He counted eighteen. Eighteen shots? What was Kagome doing? Trying to commit suicide? Eighteen tequila shots? Didn't she know that "that" much amount of alcohol was going to take a toll on her liver and kidneys? Why didn't she try to restrain herself?

"Kagome!" he grabbed the nineteenth shot glass from her hands and slid it aside. "What the hell are you doing?"

Kagome slowly opened her eyes; she suddenly flashed a sultry look at him, "Inu... Yasha?"

InuYasha was confused by Kagome's out of character behavior. Kagome didn't look like the type to sulk or drink at a bar. She looked more like the library going girl back in college and not the hard party girl. Something must have happened. She wasn't with her husband she looked troubled. He took a seat left of her on the stool. A burly man sat on Kagome's right and grabbed her wrist.

"Hey sweetheart, how's it going? You look you are in for a fun time," the stranger pulled Kagome in closer, trying to take advantage of the intoxicated Kagome.

InuYasha let out a low growl, "Watch it, punk. Don't touch her."

If only looks could kill. The man was alerted by the half-demon's death glare and dropped Kagome's wrist from his grip, "Take it easy man, she's yours. Gee."

"Kagome! What the hell are you doing here? Can't you see how dangerous it is for you to be intoxicated here?" InuYasha gestured towards Kagome. "Especially wearing... this? What are you trying to do?"

"Oh, good. You must be InuYasha," the bartender came by and nodded at InuYasha. "I called you earlier to pick up Kagome here. She's been here for a while now. You should bring her back to somewhere safer."

"Thanks so much," InuYasha gave the bartender a gentle smile.

"InuYasha! I'm so glad you came! Haha!" It almost seemed like Kagome suddenly came into her senses. She called out his name... Perhaps not quite... she picked up the shot glass of tequila once more. "Here's to the end of my fantasy, fairy tale, perfect, perfect... so called perfect marriage!"

"What?" InuYasha's eyebrow perked up. What did Kagome just say? Just this morning... yesterday morning she had emphasized about her husband and a few hours prior she had told him that she was celebrating Christmas Eve with her husband and now her marriage was over? What the hell happened to her? What happened between her and Hojo? InuYasha was dying to know.

He was still in confusion and deeply in ponders when something unexpected occurred. Kagome reached for his face with both of her hands and brought her lips upon his.

...

...

...

...

...

...

Just like that. She kissed him. Right there.

"Ka... gome..." InuYasha couldn't be more confused.

"There's a mistletoe above us," Kagome gave InuYasha a big grin. He looked above him and saw the white glutinous berries over their heads. "Have you been doing that all night with everyone sitting beside left of you?" InuYasha was afraid of what Kagome's answer was going to be. By the state of drunkenness, who knew how many people Kagome had kissed tonight.

"Hmm... nope. Just you. It's selective," she winked at him. It was that wink again. Her special wink. He felt himself stirring. She smiled at him once more while moving closer to him. "Let's try this again, shall we?"

Kagome grabbed him by his deep crimson dress shirt collar and covered his mouth with hers forcefully. He could smell and taste the alcohol on her and from her but there was something else so sweet in her kiss. It was more intoxicating than ethanol. She moved her hands to his hair and gently ran her fingers in his silvery tresses. She gave a soft moan and pressed her body firmly against his. InuYasha wanted to pull her away. Kagome was drunk; she didn't know what she was doing. But... there was something about this moment that he just couldn't push her away. He couldn't resist her. He ran his claws along her bare back down her spine all the way down to the small of her back where her dress's slit ended. It had been what seemed to be like several minutes now; neither of them had the strength to pull away. But finally, they broke for air.

"You know how I said 'sorry' the other day?" she gave him another seductive grin. InuYasha knew immediately what Kagome was referring to: their kiss. The one he forced himself upon her. "I wasn't really sorry. Can I tell you something?"

InuYasha's puppy ears perked up at Kagome's words. It was overwhelming him. It was all such a surprise to him. He gulped down hard. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. His mind and ears were playing a trick on him. Probably. He was questioning his sanity.

"I think I secretly am obsessed with you. You're on my mind, constantly," she leaned closer to him and whispered enticingly into his ears. Upon finishing her thought, she nipped his jaw and trailed her hands down his chest... abs...

InuYasha could feel himself growing warmer. Kagome was pushing it. She was playing with fire and pushing against boundaries. What the hell was she doing to him? Was she aware of her actions at all?

_'No, InuYasha. She's drunk. She doesn't know what she's talking about.'_

_'But InuYasha, alcohol is like a truth serum. You tell the truth while under the influence.'_

"Alright, let's get you home," he grabbed her wrist and began tugging her up. He pushed away the multitude of people on the dance floor and led her to the entrance. Where was her coat? He felt the biting cold against his face and turned to see Kagome shivering in her short dress. He winnowed his arms out of his wool jacket and wrapped it around Kagome's shoulders, "Here. I don't want you to catch a cold or something. Where do you live? I'm taking you home."

Something in Kagome snapped once more. She burst into tears, "I don't want to go 'home!' Take me somewhere else! Anywhere but 'home!'" Her eyes were pleading and fear filled them when she said the word "home."

"You've got no other place to go," he scratched his head and contemplated for a while. He couldn't bring her to Sango's; she was probably asleep already. Rin and Sesshomaru's place was already packed with overnight guests and their 7 bedrooms where probably all occupied by now. There was only one place: his.

"Alright, then. We're going to my place then," he gave her a sympathetic smile and waved for a taxi. For some reason, it seemed like the cold air had cleared her thoughts a bit. Kagome nodded and smiled gratefully at InuYasha.

* * *

><p>She swayed back and forth and stumbled on her way from the curb to the front lobby doors of his apartment. Kagome was uselessly drunk. InuYasha couldn't bear to see her like this anymore. He scooped her up and carried her up in a bridal style. He used his elbows to press the button of the elevator to his floor. PH.<p>

_Ding._

She cuddled closer to his chest and began mumbling words he couldn't quite hear clearly. God she looked so cute in her sleep, InuYasha smiled at the peaceful Kagome in his arms.

"I think about you constantly too," he whispered so low that only he could hear. It just dwelled on him that she was inside his embrace right now; his heart was pounding against his chest.

_Ding._

He punched in the password for his door, _'4...2...9...8...8...1...'_ and pushed it open. He stumped his feet twice and the lights in his penthouse suite lit up. 'Thank goodness for modern technology.'

Kagome was sleeping. He didn't want to disturb her. He'll let her have his bed; he could sleep on the couch or something. He kicked off his shoes and made his way to his bedroom. He glided effortlessly across the smooth and seamless hardwood floor with Kagome in his arms. InuYasha nudged the blanket cover side with his knees and placed her gingerly on his bed. Kagome cringed as she left the warmth of his body. He walked over to the end of the bed to slip off her silver stiletto heels and quietly set them aside by the foot of the bed. He went over to pull the blanket cover on her until Kagome slowly opened her eyes.

"Inu... Ya...sha..." her voice was soft and alluring. She caught his hand and brought him closer to her. She leaned closer to him and captured his lips. "Stay... with me."

InuYasha flinched. Kagome was overestimating his endurance. He was a man with principles but he was still a man... who conveniently had an irresistible woman in his bed begging him to stay with her at the moment.

_'No. She's drunk.'_

_'You want her just as much as she wants you and you know it.'_

"Kagome... go to sleep. I'll be outside."

"No... I want you here."

She was pushing it. She knew exactly how to stretch his limits and put his self restraint to the test.

Kagome grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled herself closer to him.

No matter how drunk and upset she was with her husband, Kagome was still a married woman. InuYasha knew it. His head was still somewhat still clear enough to judge the right from the wrong even under the current given circumstance. No matter how desperate she was making him, he was a morally sound man. He didn't take advantage of women like this. However, it did kill him to deny her like this.

"Kagome," he paused for a moment. "I'm going to be sleeping on the couch just outside of the room. Just call out if you need anything."

With that, he gently grabbed her hands to place them by her side. He pulled the soft blanket over her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before turning the lights off.

* * *

><p>Aww... our little InuYasha... so morally justified :) I just finished writing this chapter... now. I couldn't wait to update it! Hm... I'll come back to edit it tomorrow. *Yawn* I've been up for almost 24 hours now... been up since 4 am to do exam practice and now it's 3 am ish next day... Time to bed.<p> 


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